THE  STORY  OF 

IBLE 

HC)i-mGREW*TO»BE*WHAT*IT-  IS 


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HAJtOLD  B.  HUNTING 


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THE   STORY 
OF  OUR   BIBLE 


Copyright  by  the  Curtis  Publishing  Co. 

"  WHEN   I    MEDITATE    ON   THEE    IN    THE    NIGHT    WATCHES  " 


THE  STORY 
OF  OUR  BIBLE 


HOW  IT  GREW  TO  BE  WHAT  IT  IS 


BY 


V 


HAROLD   B.   HUNTING 


ILLUSTRATED 


NEW  YORK 

CHARLES   SCRIBNER'S  SONS 

191S 


Copyright,  1914,  1915,  by 
CHARLES  SCRIBNER'S  SONS 


Published  August,  1915 


PREFACE 

Back  of  the  Bible  lies  a  fascinating  story,  the  story 
of  the  men  and  women  who  wrote  it.  They  were  human 
beings  like  ourselves,  with  their  hopes  and  fears,  their 
dreams  and  their  longings.  More  than  that,  they  were 
noble,  heroic  men  and  women,  whose  supreme  aim  was 
to  help  others,  by  bringing  to  them  the  glad  tidings  of 
the  living  God.  They  sought  to  accomplish  this  first  of 
all  through  personal  contact  and  teaching,  and  then,  as 
a  secondary  method,  through  writings.  Each  book  in 
the  Bible,  therefore,  was  written  for  a  definite  purpose, 
and  originally  played  an  important  part  in  some  great 
hero's  life-battle  for  God  and  for  the  right.  Sometimes 
the  Biblical  book  itself  describes  or  suggests  the  circum- 
stances which  called  it  forth,  and  the  special  purpose 
for  which  it  was  written.  Sometimes  we  must  infer  the 
story  from  references  found  in  other  books,  and  by  our 
knowledge  of  ancient  life  and  customs.  For  centuries 
men  have  been  patiently  searching  for  these  facts.  As 
a  result  of  their  work  it  is  now  possible  to  tell  the  story 
of  the  Bible  as  a  whole;  how  its  various  books  came  to 
be  written  and  what  results  they  achieved;  and  finally 
how  these  books  were  preserved  through  the  centuries 
and  thus  handed  down  to  us. 

This  is  the  story  which  will  be  told  in  the  following 
pages.  It  begins  with  the  New  Testament,  although 
chronologically  it  might  seem  that  it  should  begin  with 
the  Old.  It  is  easier  to  understand  the  conditions  in 
which  the  New  Testament  arose,  for  the  very  reason 
that  they  are  more  like  those  of  modem  life. 


CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.    The  Story  of  Tertius,  A  Christian  Scribe  .  i 

II.    Some  Letters  of  a  Missionary 7 

III.  Winning  Back  Faithless  Converts     ...  13 

IV.  The  Plans  of  a  Great  Religious  Statesman  21 
V.    An  Eye-Witness  of  Jesus'  Arrest      ...  28 

VI.    Cherishing  the  Sayings  of  Jesus  ....  34 

VII.    A  Compassionate  Physician 41 

VIII.    Messages    of   Encouragement   for   Perse- 
cuted Christians 49 

IX.    WiL4T  IS  True  Christianity  ? 58 

X.    A  Spiritual  Gospel 63 

XI.    Jesus  the  Divine  Saviour 70 

XII.    The  Story  of  the  New  Testament    ...  77 

XIII.  Bards  and  Ballad-Singers Si 

XIV.  Old  Stories  Told  in  a  New  Way       ...  88 
XV.    Stories  of  a  Nation's  Heroes 95 

XVI.    Justice  Through  Laws 100 

XVII.    A  Century  of  Great  Reformers    ....  105 

XVIIL    A  FoRGmNG  Husband  Who  Told  of  God's 

Mercy 112 

XIX.    The  Counsels  of  a  Statesman-Prophet      .  118 

vii 


viii  CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XX.  A  Great  Prophet  and  His  Faithful  Secre- 
tary       124 

XXI.  Lessons  from  a  Nation's  Misfortunes  .    .  131 

XXII.  Comforters  and  Guides  in  Dark  Days       .  137 

XXIII.  A  New  Message  for  the  Oppressed       .    .  144 

XXIV.  A  New  Kind  of  Patriotism 149 

XXV.  Prayers  for  Help  in  Time  of  Oppression  155 

XXVI.  Hymn-Books  Within  Hymn-Books   ....  160 

XXVII.  Appealing  to  History  in  a  Church  Quarrel  166 

XXVIII.    Two  Kinds  of  Patriotism       172 

XXIX.  Hebrew  Love  Songs  and  a  Hebrew  Love 

Story 177 

XXX.  Wise  Men  Who  Taught  in  the  Gate     .     .  183 

XXXI.    A  Man  Unjustly  Condemned 189 

XXXII.  A  Man  Who  Thought  for  Himself    .    .    .  195 

XXXIII.  A  Pessimist  and  an  Optimist 201 

XXXIV.  Greek-Speaking  Jews  Who  were  True  to 

Their  Faith 207 

XXXV.  A  Story  of  Martyrdom  and  Triumph     .    .  213 

XXXVI.  The  Canon  of  the  Old  and  New  Testaments  219 

XXXVIL  "The  Books"  in  a  Second  Century  Church  225 

XXXVIII.    Making  Bibles  by  Hand 229 

XXXIX.  The  Beginnings  of  Our  English  Bible       .  234 

XL.  A  New  Era  of  Triumph  for  the  Bible      .  241 

XLI.  The  Bible  for  the  German  People    .     .     .  247 

XLII.  The  Father  of  the  English  Bible     .    .    .  253 


CONTENTS  ix 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

XLIII.  A  Masterpiece  of  English  Literature       .  260 

XLIV.  A  Quest  for  Perfect  Accuracy      .    .    .    .  267 

XLV.  The  Bible  in  Non-Christian  Lands    .    .    .  273 

XL VI.  The  Bible  and  the  Spade       279 

XLVII.  The  Bible,  Science,  and  Religion      ...  287 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Color  Plates 
When  I  Meditate  on  Thee  in  the  Night  Watches       .     .      Frontispiece 

FACING  PAGE 

I  will  Lift  up  Mine  Eyes 144 

The  Lord  is  My  Shepherd 158 

When  I  Consider  Thy  Heavens 192 

Half-Tone  Plates 

A  Papyrus  Swamp 2 

An  Ancient  Letter — Portion  of  a  Papyrus  Found  at  Assuan, 

Egypt 6 

Two  Views  of  an  Ancient  Papyrus  Letter,  Showing  Strings  and 

Clay  Seal 10 

The  Traditional  House  of  St.  Paul  in  Rome 24 

The  Last  Supper 28 

The  Good  Samaritan 44 

The  Last  Prayer — Christian  Martyrs  in  the  CoHseum   ....  50 

Among  the  Lowly 68 

Ancient  Systems  of  Writing 86 

Babylonian  Cylinders 92 

Stone  Column  on  which  Hammurabi's  Law  Code  is  Inscribed     .  102 

Typical  Assyrian  Scenes 120 

"Our  Feet  are  Standing  Within  thy  Gates,  0  Jerusalem"  .     .     .  162 

Ruins  of  a  Graeco-Roman  Temple  at  Samaria 166 

Ruth  the  Moabitess 180 

zi 


xii  ILLUSTRATIONS 

PACING  PAGE 

The  Old  Codex  at  Shechem 212 

Ancient  Book-Rolls 226 

Container  for  Book-Rolls 230 

Gothic  Bible 234 

Wyclif's  Bible 238 

A  Gutenberg  Press 242 

Manuscript  Discovered  by  Tischendorf  on  Mount  Sinai     .     .     .  268 

The  Moabite  Stone 280 

Recently  Discovered  Papyrus:  Sayings  of  Jesus 286 


THE  STORY 
OF  OUR  BIBLE 


THE   STORY   OF   OUR    BIBLE 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  STORY  OF  TERTIUS,  A  CHRISTIAN  SCRIBE 
Rom.  16:1-27 

( Date  of  writing  about  56  A.  D. ) 

The  Earliest  New  Testament  Writings 

Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John — every  one  knows 
that  these  are  the  first  four  books  in  the  New  Testament. 
We  might  naturally  suppose  that  they  were  the  first 
New  Testament  books  to  be  written.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  the  oldest  part  of  the  New  Testament  is  not  the 
Gospel  of  Matthew  but  the  letters  of  the  Apostle  Paul. 
In  the  study  which  we  are  now  imdertaking  we  shall 
follow,  in  general,  the  chronological  order  of  the  various 
BibHcal  writings.  The  earhest  letter  of  Paul  was  either 
I  Thessalonians  or  Galatians.  We  shall  study  these 
two  letters  in  chapter  two.  In  the  present  chapter,  we 
begin  our  study  with  a  short  letter,  which  is  not  indeed 
among  the  earliest  of  Paul's  writings,  but  which  illustrates 
very  well  the  method  by  which  all  his  letters  were  written. 
It  is  found  in  the  sixteenth  chapter  of  Romans. 

An  Apostle  Dictating  a  Letter 

We  begin  with  a  scene  from  the  life  of  the  Apostle 
Paul.  He  is  dictating  a  letter,  in  his  room  at  the  house 
of  a  man  named  Gains  in  the  city  of  Corinth.  He  has 
been  preaching  in  Corinth  for  some  months,  and  has 
won  many  converts.  For  some  time  he  has  been  planning 
to  send  a  letter  to  a  group  of  Christians  in  another  city. 
Paul  himself  seems  to  have  been  somewhat  awkward 
with  the  pen;  he  cannot  afford  to  hire  a  professional 

1 


2  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

scribe,  however;  so  he  has  inquired  whether  there  is  a 
good  writer  among  the  converts  there  at  Corinth.  Some 
one  has  told  him  about  a  certain  man  named  Tertius, 
and  Paul  has  sent  for  him.  Would  Tertius  be  kind 
enough  to  come  to  the  house  of  Gaius,  some  time  this 
week  and  write  a  letter  from  Paul's  dictation?  Tertius 
has  answered  that  he  would  be  glad  indeed  to  do  so. 
His  heart  is  warm  with  his  new  love  for  Christ,  of  whom 
Paul  has  told  him,  and  he  feels  deep  gratitude  toward 
Paul  himself,  through  whose  tender,  burning  words  he 
first  found  God.  So  Tertius  has  arranged  to  call  at  Paul's 
room,  to  act  as  his  scribe. 

Ancient  Writing  Materials  and  Styles  of 
Writing 

Before  coming  at  the  appointed  hour,  Tertius  had  to 
provide  himself  with  writing  material.  Short  letters 
were  often  written  on  wax  tablets.  Such  a  tablet  con- 
sisted of  two  wooden  frames,  folding  together  like  an 
old-fashioned  pair  of  slates.  The  soft  yielding  wax 
was  packed  into  each  frame,  and  its  surface  made  level 
and  smooth.  The  writing  was  done  with  a  sharp  metal 
pencil  or  stylus  by  means  of  which  the  characters  could 
be  scratched  on  the  wax.  Tertius  may  have  provided 
himself  with  several  of  these  tablets ;  but  as  Paul  probably 
wished  to  send  a  letter  of  considerable  length,  he  doubt- 
less bought  several  sheets  of  papyrus.  Caspar  Rene 
Gregory,  a  noted  German  scholar,  gives  the  following 
description  of  papyrus :  '  *  It  is  a  plant  that  one  can  often 
find  in  parks  and  botanical  gardens.  In  the  parks, 
it  is  four  or  five  feet  high.  If  I  am  not  mistaken  I  saw 
it  fifteen  feet  high  at  the  Arethusa  Spring  at  Syracuse. 
It  has  a  three-cornered  stem,  and  the  sides  are  covered 
by  a  thin  green  skin.  There  are  no  joints.  At  the  top 
is  a  large  inverted  tassel  of  grass-like  hair  like  the  crest 
of  a  helmet.  The  great  place  for  papyrus  in  ancient 
times  was  Egypt,  although  European  rivers,  for  example 
the  Anapo  near  Syracuse,  also  produced  it.  The  pith 
stem  was  cut  crosswise  into  lengths  of  eight  or  ten  inches, 


A  PAPYRUS  SWAMP. 


STORY   OF   TERTIUS  3 

according  to  wish,  and  then  cut  lengthwise  into  thin 
flat  strips  Hke  tape.  These  tape-Hke  strips  were  laid 
vertically  to  the  edge  of  the  table  side  by  side,  till  there 
were  enough  for  a  leaf  of  the  desired  size.  Then  a  layer 
of  paste  or  glue  was  spread  over  them,  and  other  strips 
laid  across,  that  is  to  say  horizontally,  running  parallel 
with  the  edge  of  the  table.  These  leaves  were  pressed, 
so  that  the  strips  should  all  stick  flat  together,  and  left 
to  dry.  The  drying  is  easy  in  Egypt.  Things  dry  almost 
before  they  have  come  to  perceive  that  they  were  wet. 
The  dried  leaves  were  a  trifle  rough.  For  nice  paper 
the  surface  was  then  smoothed  off,  it  may  be  with  pumice- 
stone,  or  it  was  hammered.  It  was  a  very  good  surface 
to  write  upon,  not  unlike  birch  bark,  which  many  readers 
will  know  from  the  Adirondacks  or  Maine  or  Canada." 

It  is  an  interesting  fact  that  our  word  ''paper,"  is 
derived  from  this  word  ''papyrus."  The  leaves  which 
Tertius  bought  were  doubtless  of  a  uniform  size,  with 
neatly  trimmed  edges.  If  Paul  told  him  that  he  expected 
to  send  a  long  letter,  he  may  have  bought  a  blank  roll. 
If  so,  that  roll  was  made  by  pasting  several  sheets  together, 
by  the  edges.  Tertius  began  to  write  on  the  left-hand 
end  of  the  roll.  He  wrote  in  columns  about  as  broad  as 
a  finger  is  long.  Professional  scribes  were  paid  by  the 
line,  and  the  usual  rule  was  to  make  each  line  about  as 
long  as  the  average  line  of  a  modern  printed  page.  Longer 
lines  would  have  been  harder  to  read. 

Tertius  also  provided  himself  with  pens  and  ink.  His 
pens  were  made  of  reeds,  pointed  and  split  like  our  pens 
today.  He  doubtless  prepared  three  or  four  of  them, 
so  as  not  to  keep  Paul  waiting  while  he  mended  pens. 
His  ink  was  made  of  oak-galls,  and  was  probably  brownish 
in  color,  and  paler  and  less  clear  than  ours.  He  kept  it 
in  a  glass  or  metal  bottle,  stoppered  with  wax.  All 
these  articles  he  carried  in  his  girdle,  which,  in  those 
days,  served  for  a  pocket. 

Arriving  at  the  house  of  Gaius,  Tertius  takes  his  seat 
at  the  writing  table.  Paul  reclines  on  a  couch,  or  perhaps 
in  his  enthusiastic  manner  walks  back  and  forth  across 


4  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

the  room.  As  he  rapidly  dictates  the  sentences,  Tertius 
writes  them  down  as  best  he  can.  It  is  quite  possible 
that  Tertius  took  down  Paul's  words  in  shorthand, 
using  cheap  papyrus  for  that  purpose.  A  very  good 
system  of  shorthand  had  been  invented  and  was  widely 
used.  He  probably  wrote  the  final  copy  of  the  letter  in 
a  "cursive"  or  ''running"  style  of  hand  writing,  which 
was  different  from  the  letters  which  were  used  in  per- 
manent books,  just  as  our  script  is  different  from  print. 
Unlike  our  writing  or  printing,  there  were  no  spaces 
between  the  words  in  Tertius'  letter,  and  almost  no 
punctuation  marks. 

A  Letter  of  Introduction  for  Phoebe  of 
Cenchre^ 

Paul  probably  dictated  two  letters  to  Tertius.  The 
first  was  a  long  one  to  the  Christians  at  Rome.  We  will 
have  its  story  in  chapter  four.  The  second  was  only  a 
short  note.  In  after  years,  the  two  were  copied  by  other 
writers  on  one  roll,  and  in  that  way  became  a  single 
letter,  and  we  now  have  the  shorter  one  as  the  sixteenth 
chapter  of  our  ''Epistle  to  the  Romans."  It  was  really 
a  note  of  introduction  for  a  certain  woman  named  Phoebe, 
a  prominent  Christian  worker  in  the  little  sea  port  of 
Cenchreae,  just  across  the  isthmus,  ten  miles  from 
Corinth.  She  was  going  to  Ephesus  on  business,  and 
Paul  wrote  this  letter  for  her  to  give  to  friends  of  his 
among  the  Christians  there.  As  a  stranger  in  the  city, 
and  a  woman,  she  would  greatly  appreciate  their  hospi- 
tality. Paul  had  recently  spent  three  years  in  Ephesus, 
and  had  many  dear  friends  there;  so  in  the  letter  for 
Phoebe,  he  sent  greetings  to  many  of  them,  just  as  in 
our  letters  we  ask  to  be  "remembered"  to  various  friends. 
In  the  midst  of  these  greetings,  there  seems  to  have  been 
a  slight  interruption.  Perhaps  a  visitor  came  in  and 
talked  a  Httle  while  with  Paul.  Possibly  Gaius  and  other 
friends  were  in  the  room.  Meanwhile  Tertius,  as  he 
sits  there  waiting,  thinks  "I  know  some  of  the  people 
to  whom  Paul  is  writing;  I  used  to  jaiow  Prisca  and 


STORY   OF   TERTIUS  5 

Aquila,  when  they  made  tents  here  in  Corinth.  [Rom. 
16:3  and  see  Acts  18:1-3.]  I  beHeve  I'll  just  put  in 
a  friendly  word  for  them."  So  he  writes,  ''I,  Tertius, 
who  am  writing  the  letter,  salute  you  in  the  Lord." 
Then  the  visitor  goes  out.  Paul  continues,  ''Gaius,  my 
host,  salutes  you,"  and  after  a  few  closing  words  the 
letter  is  finished.  A  little  later,  it  is  rolled  together  as 
compactly  as  possible,  tied  with  a  cord,  and  sealed  with 
a  drop  of  wax.  Tertius  writes  on  it  the  address.  To  — ,  * 
in  the  city  of  Ephesus,  the  Province  of  Asia.  The  next 
day  Phoebe  comes  in  and  the  letter  is  put  in  her  hands. 
No  doubt  she  thanks  Paul  warmly,  as  she  bids  him  good- 
bye. 

A    Man    who    Performed    an    Humble    Service 
IN  A  Noble  Spirit 

It  is  not  very  much  that  we  know  about  the  scribe, 
who  thus  wrote  the  very  first  copy  of  one  of  Paul's  letters, 
but  what  is  known  about  him  is  intensely  interesting. 
This  Tertius  was  not  a  man  of  genius.  He  was  not  an 
intellectual  giant,  like  Paul.  Yet  he  could  do  something 
that  Paul  could  not  do — he  could  write  a  clear  legible 
hand,  and  Paul  needed  his  help.  Had  it  not  been  for 
this  man  Paul  might  not  have  been  able  to  write  his 
letter.  But  Tertius  performed  the  needed  service;  and 
he  did  it,  not  for  sake  of  money  or  fame,  but  because 
he  loved  the  Master.  ''I,  Tertius,  .  .  .  salute  you  in  the 
Lord."  These  last  three  words  show  that  he  was  a 
Christian  and  that  he  was  proud  of  his  membership  in 
the  Christian  church.  Moreover,  he  was  quick  to  seize 
opportunities  to  extend  his  Christian  influence.  "I 
salute  you  in  the  Lord."  ''I'm  with  you,"  Tertius 
seems  to  say,  ''Don't  forget  I'm  on  your  side,  too." 
Some  days  after  the  writing  of  this  letter,  Phoebe  landed 
at  the  docks  in  the  harbor  at  Ephesus,  and  went  to  the 
house  which  Paul  had  mentioned.  When  the  letter 
was  opened  and  passed  around  among  Paul's  friends, 
we  can  easily  imagine  their  pleasant  surprise  when 
they  came  to  that  sentence  from  Tertius.     ' '  Look,  Aquila, 


6  THE   STORY   OF   OUR   BIBLE 

said  Prisca,  ''do  you  remember  Tertius?  Well,  it  was 
Tertius  to  whom  Paul  dictated  this  letter,  and  Tertius 
himself  has  put  in  a  special  greeting  for  us.  'I,  Tertius, 
salute  you  in  the  Lord. ' ' '  And  Aquila  may  have  answered, 
as  he  went  on  with  his  tent  making,  "Really,  I  am  almost 
as  glad  to  receive  that  greeting  from  Tertius,  as  I  am  to 
hear  from  Paul  himself." 


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CHAPTER  II 
SOME  LETTERS  OF  A  MISSIONARY 
Galatians  and  I  AND  II  Thessalonians 

(Date  of  writing  about  51  A.  D.) 

Why  Paul  Wrote  Letters 
The  Apostle  Paul  was  a  great  writer,  yet  he  left  only 
a  few  letters  as  his  contribution  to  the  world's  literature. 
The  reason  is  evident.  He  was  a  busy  man.  What 
with  earning  his  own  living  by  tent  making,  and  his 
unwearying  evangelistic  efforts,  he  had  no  time  to  write 
books.  His  letters,  on  the  other  hand,  were  called  forth 
by  the  practical  needs  of  his  work.  He  had  laid  out 
for  himself  a  unique  life  task.  He  had  planned,  ap- 
parently, to  carry  the  Gospel  message  around  the  entire 
coast  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea,  or  in  other  words,  through- 
out the  central  portion  of  the  Roman  Empire.  He 
would  stop  a  few  months  or  years  in  one  of  the  leading 
cities,  gathering  and  training  converts  and  then  go  on 
to  the  next  town,  planting  a  church  in  each.  These 
churches  were  to  be  centers  from  which  Christianity 
would  spread  into  the  surrounding  regions,  and  thus 
the  entire  Empire  would  eventually  be  Christianized. 
It  was  a  stupendous  undertaking.  No  one  had  ever 
dreamed  of  such  a  thing,  hitherto.  In  fact  up  to  the 
time  of  the  Roman  empire,  it  would  have  been  physically 
impossible,  for  the  lack  of  roads  and  ships,  would  have 
kept  the  missionary  at  home.  Now,  however,  the  Roman 
government  had  built  good  roads  into  the  most  remote 
provinces,  and  had  swept  the  pirates  from  the  sea,  and 
the  robbers  from  the  public  highways.  There  were 
passenger  ships  making  regular  trips  between  all  the 
large  cities  on  the  coast  of  the  Mediterranean.  People 
traveled  a  great  deal.     The  Greek  language  was  every- 

7 


8  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

where  understood.  These  facts  made  it  possible  for 
Paul  to  carry  out  his  campaign  with  a  large  measure 
of  success. 

If  this  work,  however,  was  to  accomplish  permanent 
results,  it  was  necessary  for  Paul  to  find  some  way  to 
follow  up  his  own  short  personal  campaigns  in  each 
city,  otherwise  the  newly  planted  churches  would  wilt 
and  die  in  the  heat  of  persecution  or  temptation.  There 
was  nothing  superficial  in  Paul.  Whatever  he  imdertook, 
he  did  thoroughly.  So  he  devised  two  methods  for 
looking  after  new  converts.  In  the  first  place,  he  gradu- 
ally built  up  a  corps  of  lieutenants,  men  and  women  like 
Prisca  and  Aquila,  Timothy,  Silas,  and  Luke.  Whenever 
he  left  a  city,  one  of  these  assistants  remained  behind, 
if  possible,  to  go  on  with  the  work.  At  frequent  intervals, 
these  helpers  reported  to  him,  wherever  he  happened 
to  be.  The  second  method  of  looking  after  his  converts, 
was  through  letters.  These  he  sent  by  his  assistants, 
or  by  any  messenger  whom  he  could  secure.  Thus  in 
addition  to  his  missionary  preaching,  he  was  able  to 
keep  constantly  in  touch  with  all  his  previous  converts; 
sympathizing  with  their  perplexities  and  troubles;  re- 
buking their  wrong  doings;  and  cheering  them  on  in 
times  of  discouragement.  As  the  number  of  churches 
grew,  it  is  not  surprising  that  Paul  sometimes  felt  burdened 
by  ''that  which  presseth  upon  me  daily,  anxiety  for  all 
the  churches. ' '     (II  Cor.  11 :  28) . 

The  Letters  to  Thessalonica 

Of  the  letters  of  Paul  which  are  preserved  in  our  New 
Testament,  the  earliest  are  a  group  of  three  which  were 
written  in  Corinth  during  his  first  visit  there,  namely, 
Galatians,  and  I  and  II  Thessalonians.  This  visit 
should  probably  be  dated  sometime  between  the  autumn 
of  50  A.D.,  and  the  spring  of  52  A.D.  When  the  first 
letter  to  the  Thessalonians  was  written,  Silas  and  Timothy 
had  just  come  down  from  Macedonia  to  Corinth.  As 
they  appeared  in  the  low  doorway  of  the  tent-maker's 
shop,  where  Paul  and  Prisca  and  Aquila  were  at  work. 


LETTERS  OF  A   MISSIONARY  9 

they  received  a  royal  welcome.  Paul  had  been  having 
a  fit  of  the  blues.  His  work  in  Athens  just  before  coming 
to  Corinth,  had  seemed  a  total  failure,  and  he  was  ap- 
parently succeeding  no  better  in  Corinth.  He  had 
been  compelled  to  flee  from  Macedonia  much  sooner 
than  he  intended,  and  he  was  very  anxious  about  his 
converts  there,  especially  the  Thessalonians.  The  travel- 
stained  newcomers,  however,  brought  good  cheer.  The 
Philippians  had  actually  taken  up  a  collection,  and  had 
sent  the  money  to  Paul  through  Silas.  As  for  the  Thessa- 
lonians, Timothy  reported  that  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
they  had  been  severely  persecuted,  they  had  proved 
themselves  true  Christians.  At  these  good  tidings, 
Paul's  spirits  rose  with  a  bound.  Immediately  he  sent 
the  Thessalonians  a  letter  praising  them,  and  encouraging 
them  to  continue  in  the  good  way.  The  second  letter 
was  written  a  few  weeks  after  the  first.  In  their  expecta- 
tion that  Christ  would  soon  return  to  earth,  some  of 
the  Thessalonians  had  ceased  from  their  daily  work. 
Paul  explained  to  them  that  the  longed-for  return  of 
the  Master  might  be  delayed,  and  urged  them  to  return 
to  their  work.  "If  any  will  not  work,"  he  says,  "neither 
let  him  eat."  For  the  most  part,  the  letters  to  the 
Thessalonians  are  letters  of  praise,  rather  than  of  reproof, 
and  are  filled  with  beautiful  and  tender  expressions  of 
Paul's  love. 

The  Letter  to  the  Galatians 

The  letter  to  the  Galatians  was  written  about  the 
same  time  as  I  Thessalonians,  perhaps  even  earlier. 
Messengers  had  just  come  to  Paul,  from  the  cities  of 
southern  Galatia,  where  he  had  foimded  churches. 
(Acts  13-14).  There  were  four  of  these  cities,  namely 
Pisidian  Antioch,  Iconium,  Lystra  and  Derbe.  Since 
Paul's  last  visit,  some  Jewish-Christian  teachers  from 
Jerusalem  had  come  among  them,  saying  that  the  Gentile 
Christians,  as  well  as  the  Jews,  must  observe  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  the  law  of  Moses,  else  they  could  not 
be  saved.     "Paul  was  mistaken,"  they  said,  "in  telling 


10  THE  STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

you  that  these  rites  are  unnecessary.  He  was  not  one 
of  the  original  twelve  Apostles  anyway.  He  never  even 
saw  Jesus  while  He  was  on  earth."  The  messengers 
reported  that  many  of  the  Galatians  had  believed  what 
these  men  said,  and  that  all  the  churches  were  in  a  turmoil 
over  the  question.  Paul  was  deeply  stirred  and  troubled 
by  what  he  heard.  He  realized,  of  course,  that  these 
old  ceremonies,  in  themselves,  were  not  worth  a  contro- 
versy. It  was  a  matter  of  no  consequence  whether 
they  were  observed  or  neglected.  But  the  Jewish  Chris- 
tians taught  that  these  things  were  an  essential  element 
in  Christianity.  Thus  they  made  religion  a  burden  and 
a  bondage.  Paul's  religion,  on  the  other  hand,  was  a 
religion  of  freedom.  His  mission  among  the  Gentiles 
was  not  to  lay  new  burdens  upon  them,  but  to  free  them 
from  their  old  burdens,  by  telling  of  a  wondrous  power 
from  on  high  which  would  make  all  burdens  Hght.  We 
cannot  wonder  that  Paul  was  angry,  with  a  holy  anger, 
when  the  very  heart  and  core  of  his  message  was  thus 
perverted,  and  when  his  whole  work  among  the  Galatians 
was  being  undone.  It  was  to  fight  these  ''blind  leaders 
of  the  blind,"  that  he  wrote  his  letter.  It  is  in  many 
respects  the  greatest  letter  he  ever  wrote.  It  is  more 
like  a  firebrand  than  a  letter.  Every  sentence,  every 
line,  either  blazes  with  indignation,  or  quivers  with  the 
pleadings  of  love.  He  defends  his  own  authority  as  a 
religious  teacher.  He  declares  that  even  though  he 
never  saw  Jesus  in  the  flesh,  yet  he  has  known  him,  in 
the  spirit.  He  appeals  to  their  own  experience  and  to 
the  teachings  of  the  Old  Testament,  to  prove  that  the 
Jewish  rites  are  not  essential,  but  that  God  gives  His 
blessings  freely  to  all,  both  to  Jews  and  Gentiles,  on  the 
one  condition  of  faith.  In  other  words,  men  are  not  kept 
from  God  by  the  fact  that  they  are  not  Jews,  or  by  the 
fact  that  they  have  not  performed  a  certain  ceremonial 
rite.  Only  one  thing  can  shut  men  away  from  God, 
their  own  wilful  unbelief. 


LETTERS   OF  A   MISSIONARY  11 

How  Paul's  Letters  were  Received 
Suppose  we  follow  this  Galatian  letter  to  its  destination, 
as  a  good  illustration  of  the  history  of  all  of  Paul's  letters. 
The  same  messengers  who  brought  the  news  from  Galatia 
to  Paul,  no  doubt  returned  with  his  answer.  After  a 
short  sea  voyage  from  Cenchreae  to  Ephesus,  or  Miletus, 
and  a  journey  of  a  hundred  miles  or  so  along  the  Roman 
road  into  the  interior  of  Asia  Minor,  they  arrived  at  the 
city  of  Pisidian  Antioch.  They  probably  delivered  the 
letter  to  an  elder  in  the  church  there,  who  immediately 
sent  word  to  all  the  Christians  in  the  town  to  come  to 
his  house  that  night.  ''A  letter  from  Paul!"  the  news 
was  flashed  very  quickly  from  home  to  home.  In  the 
evening,  the  room  is  crowded.  Amidst  an  eager  silence, 
the  elder  begins  to  read.  The  characteristic  sentences 
of  the  great  Apostle  bring  back  to  the  minds  of  the  listeners 
the  familiar  tones  and  inflections  of  Paul's  voice.  After 
about  an  hour's  reading  the  letter  is  finished.  A  half- 
suppressed  sigh  sweeps  through  the  room,  and  there  are 
some  rather  shame-faced  glances.  Here  is  a  man  who 
remembers  that  he  called  a  fellow -disciple  by  a  hard 
name  the  other  day,  because  he  was  not  observing  the 
Jewish  fast  of  the  new  moon.  Here  is  a  woman  who 
has  been  saying  rather  unkind  things  about  Paul  himself. 
Finally  one  of  the  leaders  rises,  a  man  who  has  the  con- 
fidence of  all.  ''Brothers  and  sisters,"  he  says,  "Paul  is 
right.  I  had  begun  to  observe  these  Jewish  ordinances, 
like  most  of  you  here;  but  I,  for  one,  will  do  so  no  more. 
These  things  only  cultivate  self-righteousness  and  pride. 
It  is  through  God's  free  grace  that  we  are  saved."  At 
this,  one  after  another  rises  and  declares  himself  on 
Paul's  side.  There  is  not  a  person  in  that  room,  who 
has  not  gained  a  new  insight  into  the  beauty  of  the  Chris- 
tian life. 

The  next  day  the  letter  was  probably  taken  to  Iconium, 
twenty-five  miles  distant,  where  in  the  evening  it  was 
read  to  the  assembled  disciples  just  as  in  Antioch.  The 
next  evening  it  was  read  in  Lystra,  and  finally  in  Derbe. 
The  disciples  in  Derbe  probably  kept  it  until  they  could 


12  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

make  a  copy  of  it;  copies  were  likewise  made  in  each  of 
the  other  towns.  In  their  future  meetings,  they  would 
read  and  reread  these  copies,  until  the  favorite  parts 
became  finger  marked,  and  the  papyrus  became  ragged 
and  torn.  Then  new  copies  would  be  made.  Some  of 
the  members  would  make  private  copies  for  themselves. 
Thus  Paul's  influence  lived  on  from  year  to  year,  and 
from  generation  to  generation. 


CHAPTER  III 

WINNING  BACK  FAITHLESS  CONVERTS 

Trouble  in  the  Church  at  Corinth 

(Date,  about  55  A.D.) 

Paul's  Four  Letters  to  the  Corinthians 
''Four  Letters!"  some  one  may  object;  "We  have  heard 
about  First  and  Second  Corinthians,  but  never  of  Third 
Corinthians  or  Fourth."  Yet  it  is  now  generally  agreed 
that  Paul  wrote  four  letters  to  the  Christians  in  Corinth, 
and  probably  all  four  of  them  are  in  our  Bible.  This 
series  of  letters  was  begun  during  the  last  few  months 
of  Paul's  stay  in  Ephesus.  He  had  come  to  that  city 
in  the  autumn  of  52  A.D.,  soon  after  leaving  Corinth, 
where  he  wrote  the  letters  described  in  the  previous 
chapter.  He  had  taken  up  an  exceedingly  active  mis- 
sionary campaign,  which  continued  during  three  eventful 
years,  and  brought  to  him  many  anxious  hours.  At 
times,  just  as  in  Corinth,  he  ran  short  of  money  and 
nearly  starved.  His  clothes  grew  shabby  and  worn. 
He  was  thrown  out  of  his  lodgings  because  he  could  not 
pay  the  rent.  With  all  this,  his  preaching  was  so  success- 
ful, that  he  won  a  large  number  of  converts.  This  aroused 
the  hatred  of  both  the  Jews  and  the  heathen  Greeks  and 
he  was  nearly  killed  in  the  persecution  which  followed. 
It  was  just  as  this  strenuous  career  in  Ephesus  was 
drawing  toward  its  climax,  that  news  came  to  Paul  of 
trouble  among  his  converts  in  Corinth.  The  story  of 
the  correspondence  which  at  once  began  between  the 
Corinthians  and  Paul,  and  which  lasted  about  a  year, 
is  well-nigh  as  exciting  as  anything  which  happened  in 
Ephesus. 


13 


14  THE   STORY  OF   OUR   BIBLE 

The  First  Letter 
The  first  of  these  four  letters  was  called  out  by  a  scandal 
in  the  Corinthian  Church.  Word  was  brought  to  Paul 
by  friends  who  happened  to  come  to  Ephesus,  that  the 
Christians  in  the  former  city  had  received  into  the  church 
a  man  who  was  openly  Hving  an  immoral  life.  It  seems 
that  he  had  married  his  father's  wife,  that  is,  his  own 
stepmother.  Paul,  of  course,  was  shocked,  and  wrote 
a  short  but  emphatic  note  protesting  that  this  man  should 
never  have  been  taken  into  the  church,  and  should  at 
once  be  expelled,  unless  he  would  repent  of  his  wrong- 
doing, and  cease  from  his  evil  life.  It  was  formerly 
beheved  that  this  note  was  lost.  Modem  scholars, 
however,  have  perhaps  discovered  it  in  what  is  now  II 
Cor.  6: 14 — 7: 1.  We  have  already  seen  how  the  letter 
for  Phoebe  was  added  to  the  letter  to  the  Romans. 
Apparently  this  short  note  to  the  Corinthians  has  found 
its  way  into  the  middle  of  a  longer  letter.  Perhaps 
some  later  scribe  intended  to  copy  it  at  the  end,  but 
accidentally  disarranged  the  leaves  of  papyrus  on  which 
he  was  writing,  and  thus  inserted  it  by  mistake  in  its 
present  position.  If  so,  then  the  note  began  as  follows: 
*'Be  not  unequally  yoked  together  with  unbelievers; 
for  what  fellowship  have  righteousness  and  iniquity? 
or  what  communion  hath  light  with  darkness?  And 
what  concord  hath  Christ  with  Belial?  or  what  portion 
hath  a  believer  with  an  unbehever?  And  what  agreement 
hath  a  temple  of  God  with  idols?'*  These  short  crisp 
sentences  are  like  blows  of  the  fist.  They  must  have 
awakened  some,  at  least,  of  the  Corinthians,  to  a  realiza- 
tion of  the  mistakes  which  they  had  made,  and  must  have 
helped  to  recall  them  to  their  senses. 

Other  Shortcomings  of  the  Corinthians 
After  sending  this  note,  Paul  received  further  informa- 
tion regarding  the  state  of  affairs  at  Corinth.  It  was  a 
discouraging  situation  in  many  ways.  These  Corinthian 
Christians  were  full  of  religious  enthusiasm,  but  their 
everyday  conduct  was  far  from  ideal.     Many  of  them 


WINNING  BACK  FAITHLESS  CONVERTS     15 

before  their  conversion,  had  been  thieves,  swindlers, 
drunkards  and  grossly  immoral.  It  is  not  surprising, 
therefore,  that  even  after  their  conversion,  their  standards 
of  conduct  were  somewhat  low.  There  were  also  certain 
persons  in  Corinth  who  ridiculed  the  Christian  belief 
in  a  life  after  death  when  men  will  be  punished  or  re- 
warded, according  to  their  deeds  on  earth.  ''Let  us 
eat,  drink  and  be  merry,"  these  scoffers  seemed  to  say. 
''  Let  us  indulge  ourselves  as  we  please  for  tomorrow  we 
die.'*  Some  of  the  Christians  had  been  influenced  by 
these  arguments.  Furthermore  the  church  was  torn  with 
jealousies  and  quarrels.  They  had  quarreled  over  the 
question,  "  who  is  the  more  eloquent  preacher,  Paul  or 
Apollos"  (Paul's  friend  and  associate).  They  had 
quarreled  over  the  matter  of  spiritual  gifts.  Each  one 
claimed  special  honor  for  his  own  gift.  This  quarrelsome 
spirit  led  to  disorders  in  their  meetings.  Those  who  spoke 
first,  took  up  too  much  time.  Often  there  would  be 
several  persons  trying  to  speak  at  once.  At  their  suppers, 
they  broke  up  into  little  cliques,  the  members  of  each 
clique  in  a  comer  by  themselves.  Here  would  be  a  group 
of  well-to-do  people,  who  had  brought  a  fine  dinner, 
and  were  behaving  like  gluttons,  while  over  on  the  other 
side  of  the  room,  would  be  certain  poor  persons  who  had 
been  able  to  bring  little  or  nothing,  and  who  were  hungry 
and  embarrassed.  Finally,  what  was  perhaps  more 
discouraging  than  anything  else,  the  majority  of  the 
Corinthians  including  some  of  the  w^orst  offenders,  were 
excessively  proud  and  conceited.  They  would  take 
advice  from  no  one.  They  regarded  themselves  as 
already  wellnigh  perfect.  When  any  of  the  wiser  members 
attempted  to  remonstrate  with  them,  they  felt  themselves 
insulted.  In  general  they  were  behaving  like  spoiled 
children. 

Paul  Handles  the  Situation  Boldly. 
His  Second  Letter 

Paul's  second  letter  to  this  church,  we  have  in  the  New 
Testament    imder    the    heading    First    Corinthians.     It 


16  THE  STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

was  written  some  weeks  after  the  real  first  letter.  Patd 
had  just  received  an  answer  to  that  letter,  in  which  the 
Corinthians  asked  him  how  it  would  be  possible  to  avoid 
associating  with  immoral  persons  unless  they  were  to  go 
out  of  the  world  altogether.  It  was  a  rather  foolish 
question,  and  shows  that  they  were  trying  to  excuse 
themselves  for  their  conduct.  They  also  asked  a  number 
of  other  questions,  as  for  example,  whether  it  was  ever 
right  to  eat  meat  which  had  been  dedicated  to  an  idol. 
In  his  second  letter  (I  Corinthians),  Paul  gives  practical 
commonsense  answers  to  all  their  questions,  and  also 
goes  very  thoroughly  into  all  the  matters  regarding  which 
they  needed  instruction.  This  letter  must  have  made 
a  sensation.  It  was  charged  with  spiritual  electricity. 
Patiently,  tactfully,  but  with  absolute  fearlessness,  Paul 
discussed  their  errors  and  shortcomings.  Two  great 
purposes  underlie  the  whole  letter,  first,  to  lift  the  Corin- 
thians to  a  higher  standard  of  morals,  and  secondly  to 
inspire  them  with  the  Christian  spirit  of  love.  The 
greatest  passage  in  the  letter,  is  the  chapter  in  praise  of 
love,  beginning  with  the  words,  "If  I  speak  with  the 
tongues  of  men  or  of  angels,  but  have  not  love,  I  am 
become  soimding  brass  or  a  clanging  cymbal."  This 
is  one  of  the  noblest  and  most  eloquent  passages  in  all 
literature. 

Trouble-makers  from  Outside 
This  second  letter  would  probably  have  accomplished 
its  purpose  had  it  not  been  that  most  unfortunately,  some 
of  Paul's  enemies  among  the  Jewish  Christians,  came  to 
Corinth  just  at  this  time.  These  persons  were  perhaps 
the  very  men  who  had  tried  to  persuade  the  Galatians 
to  observe  the  Jewish  law.  They  followed  the  same 
course  in  Corinth,  except  that  they  attacked  Paul  him- 
self, more  bitterly.  *'Do  you  know  who  this  man  is?" 
they  asked.  "Did  he  bring  any  letters  of  recommenda- 
tion from  the  mother-church  at  Jerusalem?"  They 
found  a  ready  hearing  for  these  insinuations  among  those 
whose  conduct  Paul  had  just  rebuked.  Getting  together 
a  group  of  them,  they  poured  into  their  willing  ears  some 


WINNING  BACK  FAITHLESS  CONVERTS    17 

such  tale  as  follows.  "You  Corinthians  have  been 
outrageously  deceived.  This  man  told  you  that  he  was 
an  apostle  of  Christ.  He  is  always  bragging  about  him- 
self, and  claiming  to  be  some  great  personage.  In  reality 
he  is  a  rank  imposter.  He  admits  that  he  never  knew 
Christ  while  He  was  on  earth,  as  the  other  apostles  did. 
Moreover,  his  teaching  is  false.  He  says  that  you 
Gentile  Christians  do  not  need  to  keep  the  law  which 
God  revealed  to  Moses.  What  a  blasphemy  to  tell  men 
that  they  do  not  need  to  obey  God's  law!  What  then 
is  there  to  hinder  any  man  committing  any  sin  he  may 
choose?  The  fellow  knows  that  his  doctrines  lead  directly 
to  this  dreadful  conclusion,  although  he  is  too  clever  to 
admit  it.  He  throws  a  veil  over  his  real  meaning.  Do 
you  ask  what  he  is  doing  all  this  for?  Why  he  wants  your 
money.  True,  he  would  not  accept  any  money  from 
you  for  his  support,  but  that  was  merely  in  order  to  win 
your  confidence.  Is  he  not  at  this  very  time  raising  a 
great  collection  for  the  poor  in  Jerusalem?  Do  you 
suppose  the  poor  will  ever  see  that  money?  Really,  the 
fellow  is  a  scoundrel.  He  is  not  only  a  liar,  he  is  a  coward 
as  well.  His  letters  are  bold  and  threatening  to  be  sure, 
but  when  he  is  with  you  does  he  dare  to  carry  out  his 
threats?  Soon  after  he  first  pretended  to  be  converted, 
he  showed  himself  a  coward;  we  heard  all  about  it.  He 
was  preaching  in  Damascus,  and  some  of  the  unbelieving 
Jews  threatened  to  kill  him.  There  really  was  no  danger 
at  all,  yet  he  ran  from  the  city  in  terror.  Why  even  his 
bodily  presence  is  weak,  and  his  manner  of  speech  is 
contemptible."  In  their  desperate  attempt  to  blacken 
Paul's  character,  these  Jews  seem  to  have  even  referred 
to  a  chronic  illness  to  which  Paul  was  subject,  and  which 
caused  him  much  pain  and  annoyance.  Perhaps  this 
disease  was  epilepsy.  The  Jews  always  regarded  any 
disease  and  especially  nervous  weaknesses  of  this  kind, 
as  the  result  of  some  previous  sin  and  therefore  evidence 
of  a  sinful  character.  This  affliction  was  sent  upon 
Paul,  so  the  Corinthians  were  told,  as  a  punishment  of 
his  evil  deeds.     There  was  just  enough  truth  in  some  of 


18  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

these  statements  to  make  an  impression  on  the  Corin- 
thians. Even  those  who  had  been  most  loyal  to  Patd, 
found  it  hard  to  keep  unshaken  faith  in  him.  When 
Paul  himself  heard  what  was  being  said  about  him,  he 
was  of  course  deeply  grieved  and  hurt  and  also  filled 
with  anxious  concern  for  the  Corinthians  themselves. 
So  he  dropped  his  work  in  Ephesus  and  made  a  flying 
visit  to  Corinth,  thinking  that  he  could  quickly  rally 
his  old  friends  about  him.  It  was  a  sorrowful  visit, 
however.  Scarcely  any  one  welcomed  him.  At  every 
door,  he  was  received  with  cold  and  suspicious  glances. 
He  was  even  publicly  insulted  at  a  gathering  of  the 
church  members,  and  the  man  who  committed  the  outrage 
was  not  rebuked;  on  the  contrary,  the  majority  of  those 
present  seemed  to  approve.  So  almost  heart  broken, 
Paul  sailed  back  to  Ephesus. 

How  Paul  Regained  the  Confidence  of  the 
Corinthians. 

The  Third  Letter 
Nevertheless  this  painful  visit  was  not  wholly  a  failure. 
After  Paul  had  gone  the  Corinthians  began  to  be  ashamed 
of  themselves.  When  his  associate  Titus  came  to  them 
from  Ephesus,  some  two  or  three  weeks  later,  with  a 
letter  from  the  apostle,  they  were  already  in  a  better  frame 
of  mind.  This  was  Paul's  third  letter  to  them.  We  have 
this  letter,  or  a  part  of  it,  in  the  New  Testament,  at  the 
end  of  what  is  now  called  Second  Corinthians  (Chapters 
10-13).  It  was  doubtless  added  here  by  some  one  who 
was  making  a  copy  of  Paul's  letters.  It  was  a  very 
severe  letter.  Part  of  it  seems  never  to  have  been  made 
public,  probably  because  it  mentioned  the  name  of  the 
man  who  had  insulted  Paul.  In  the  part  which  has 
been  handed  down  to  us,  Paul  pleads  for  a  fair  hearing. 
He  is  fighting  now  with  his  back  to  the  wall.  With 
biting  irony,  and  splendid  eloquence,  he  defends  his 
character  and  mission.  He  appeals  to  his  past  record 
of  toil  and  sacrifice  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  Referring 
to  the  Jewish  Christians,  he  asks:     ''Are  they  ministers 


WINNING  BACK  FAITHLESS  CONVERTS     19 

of  Christ?  (I  speak  as  one  beside  himself),  I  am  more; 
in  labors  more  abundantly,  in  prisons  more  abundantly, 
in  stripes  above  measure,  in  deaths  oft."  Then  follows 
a  most  remarkable  and  moving  story  of  what  he  had 
endured  and  achieved  for  Christ.  (II  Cor.  11:23-33). 
In  answer  to  the  charge  that  his  attacks  of  bodily  sickness 
were  sent  upon  him  as  a  pimishment,  he  says  that  this 
''thorn  in  the  flesh"  was  really  sent  to  him  in  connection 
with  his  wonderful  visions  and  revelations  from  the  Lord, 
lest  he  should  be  tempted  by  them  to  be  unduly  proud. 
Moreover,  it  had  really  been  one  of  his  greatest  blessings 
for  through  it  he  had  learned  that  the  power  of  God  was 
made  perfect  in  human  weakness.  ''Most  gladly  there- 
fore, will  I  rather  boast  in  my  weaknesses," —  "for  when 
I  am  weak,  then  am  I  strong."  This  letter  went  home 
like  an  arrow  to  its  mark.  It  would  seem  that  the  whole 
assembly  broke  down  in  weeping,  when  it  was  read.  To 
think  that  instead  of  giving  this  great  souled  man  their 
truest  love,  they  had  pointed  the  finger  of  scorn  at  even 
those  physical  sufferings  which  should  have  awakened 
their  deepest  sympathy!  They  begged  Titus  to  hurry 
back  to  Paul  and  tell  him  they  were  sorry,  and  were  longing 
for  his  forgiveness.  They  also  severely  reprimanded  the 
man  who  had  been  guilty  of  the  act  of  insult, 

Paul's  Fourth  Letter:    The  Happy  Reconciliation 

Meanwhile,  Paul's  tender  heart  had  been  smiting  him. 
How  would  they  take  his  letter?  Had  he  written  too 
severely  ?  Would  they  be  alienated  from  him  altogether  ? 
Would  Titus  never  come  back?  Unfortunately  it  had 
been  understood  that  Titus  was  to  return  by  way  of 
Macedonia.  So  at  last,  when  Paul  could  endure  the 
delay  no  longer,  he  closed  his  work  at  Ephesus,  and 
went  to  Troas,  where  the  Macedonian  boats  came  in. 
Not  finding  Titus  there,  he  went  on  across  the  sea,  and 
in  one  of  the  cities  of  Macedonia,  he  found  the  man  he 
was  looking  for.  How  about  it,  Titus?  Tell  us  quickly. 
What  news  from  Corinth?  Eagerly  and  joyously  Titus 
pours    out    his    welcome    news.     Then    in    overflowing 


20  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

happiness,  Paul  writes  one  more  letter,  a  fourth,  which 
we  have  as  II  Cor.  1:  1 — 6:13;  7:2-9.  He  sends  it  back 
post  haste,  with  Titus,  promising  to  come  himself  very 
soon.  In  this  letter  Paul  fairly  sings  his  tenderness  and 
his  gratitude  to  God.  He  begs  the  Corinthians  not  to 
deal  too  severely  with  the  member  who  had  wronged 
him,  but  rather  to  forgive  and  comfort  him,  lest  he  should 
be  "swallowed  up  with  his  overmuch  sorrow." 

To  dispel  any  lingering  perplexities  which  the  Jewish 
Christians  may  have  suggested  to  their  minds,  he  burst 
forth  into  one  final,  splendid  defence  of  himself,  and  his 
gospel.  He  does  not  need  ''letters  of  recommendation," 
he  says,  ''Ye  are  an  epistle  of  Christ,  ministered  by  us, 
written  not  with  ink,  but  with  the  Spirit  of  the  living 
God."  In  answer  to  the  charge  that  he  had  not  known 
Jesus  while  He  was  on  earth,  Paul  says,  *' Wherefore, 
henceforth,  I  will  know  no  man  after  the  flesh;  even 
though  I  have  known  Christ  after  the  flesh,  yet  now  I 
will  know  Him,  so,  no  more."  That  is,  Paul  does  know 
something  of  the  events  in  the  earthly  life  of  Jesus,  through 
his  acquaintance  with  Peter,  and  James,  the  Lord's 
brother;  it  is  possible  that  he  had  even  seen  Jesus,  when 
He  was  in  Jerusalem,  but  He  is  resolved  to  make  use  of 
this  knowledge  even  less  in  the  future  than  in  the  past. 
He  will  appeal  rather  to  his  knowledge  of  the  living  Christ, 
who  ' '  shined  in  our  hearts,  to  give  the  light  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  glory  of  God." 

This  letter  was  delivered  in  due  time.  The  Corinthians 
were  not  expecting  it  so  soon,  for  they  supposed  that 
Paul  was  still  in  Ephesus.  When  Titus  gave  it  into 
their  hands,  how  quickly  they  tore  open  the  seal,  and 
scanned  its  closely  written  lines.  Quickly  the  word 
was  passed  around  among  all  the  members;  "A  letter 
from  Paul  already!  He  has  forgiven  everything."  And 
then  they  began  to  count  the  days  before  Paul  should 
come  in  person  once  more.  The  letters  had  accomplished 
their  purpose.  The  Corinthian  Church  had  been  saved 
for  Paul,  and  for  the  cause  of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE   PLANS    OF   A   GREAT   RELIGIOUS 
STATESMAN 
Paul's  Letter  to  Rome,  and  Letters  Written 
FROM  Rome 

(Date  56—61  A.  D.) 

Looking   Westward    from    Corinth: 
Hopes  and  Forebodings 

When  Paul  sent  his  last  letter  from  Macedonia  to  the 
Corinthians,  his  work  in  that  part  of  the  worid  was 
neariy  completed.  He  had  preached  the  Gospel  in 
Damascus,  in  Antioch,  in  the  cities  of  Galatia,  in  Ephesus, 
in  Corinth,  in  the  cities  of  Macedonia,  and  even  as  far 
as  lUyricum,  northwest  of  Macedonia.  In  most  of  these 
cities  he  had  established  churches,  and  thanks  to  his 
ceaseless  care  and  effort,  these  churches  were  now  strong 
and  flourishing  organizations.  In  accordance  with  his 
missionary  plan,  his  eyes  now  turned  to  the  great  provinces 
of  the  west:  to  Rome,  the  mighty  heart  and  metropolis 
of  the  whole  empire,  and  beyond  Rome,  to  distant  Spain. 
Before  he  could  embark  on  this  new  part  of  his  enterprise, 
however,  there  was  one  duty  which  he  felt  that  he  must 
fulfil.  We  have  seen  that  he  had  been  having  constant 
friction  with  certain  Jewish-Christian  teachers.  They 
had  done  all  in  their  power  to  hinder  him  in  his  work. 
They  were  evidently  sincere  in  believing  him  to  be  a 
hypocrite,  and  a  thoroughly  bad  man.  There  were, 
to  be  sure,  a  few  of  the  Jewish-Christian  leaders,  Peter, 
for  example,  who  believed  in  Paul;  but  a  large  number 
of  the  Christian  Jews  in  the  church  in  Jerusalem,  and 
elsewhere,  bitterly  opposed  him.  Paul  defended  himself 
against  their  attacks  with  all  his  might.  Yet  it  was  a 
deep  sorrow  to  him  to  be  in  conflict  with  men  of  his  own 

21 


22  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

race,  and  especially  with  men  who  tried  to  follow  the 
teaching  of  Christ,  however  imperfect  their  appreciation 
of  Christianity  may  have  been.  He  grieved  over  the 
growing  bitterness  between  the  Gentile  Churches  which 
he  had  founded,  and  the  original  mother-Church  at 
Jerusalem,  and  he  determined  to  do  what  he  could  to 
bring  about  a  reconciliation.  To  this  end,  he  had  been 
gathering  for  a  year  or  more,  a  great  collection  for  the 
poor  among  the  Christians  at  Jerusalem.  (See  I  Cor. 
16 : 1-3 ;  H  Cor.  8-9).  This  had  been  suggested,  originally, 
by  Peter  and  other  Jerusalem  leaders  who  were  friendly. 
Paul  took  up  the  idea  with  enthusiasm,  and  his  converts, 
everywhere,  responded  generously.  When  he  finally 
reached  Corinth,  the  money  had  all  been  gathered.  He 
was  to  take  it  to  Jerusalem,  in  company  with  some  eight 
or  nine  men,  representing  the  leading  Gentile  Churches. 
It  was  hoped  that  this  kindly  gift  would  not  only  help 
the  poor,  but  would  also  win  the  hearts  of  the  Jewish 
brothers.  For  Paul,  this  journey  was  dangerous.  In 
fact,  Jerusalem  was  the  most  dangerous  place  in  the  world 
for  him.  If  the  Jewish  Christians  were  in  conflict  with 
him,  how  much  more,  the  unbelieving  Jews!  They  re- 
garded him  as  a  renegade  and  a  traitor.  Many  of  his 
friends  besought  him  not  to  undertake  the  journey.  If 
he  should  once  enter  Jerusalem,  would  he  ever  leave  it 
alive?  Would  he  ever  see  the  fulfilment  of  his  dreams? 
Would  he  ever  really  preach  the  Gospel  in  Rome? 

A  Letter  to  the  Christians  in  Rome 

With  this  eager  ambition  to  go  to  Rome,  and  mingled 
with  it,  this  anxious  foreboding  as  to  the  outcome  of  his 
visit  to  Jerusalem,  Paul's  spirit  must  have  chafed  within 
him,  as  he  watched  the  white  winged  ships  setting  sail 
for  Italy  from  the  harbor  at  Corinth.  Fortunately,  before 
he  left  this  city,  he  met  with  an  acquaintance  who  was 
going  to  Rome,  and  who  could  deliver  a  letter  to  the 
Christians  there;  so  Paul  determined  to  write  to  them. 
If  he  were  successful  in  carrying  out  his  plans,  the  letter 
would  prepare  the  way  for  his  coming.     If  on  the  other 


PLANS  OF  A  RELIGIOUS   STATESMAN     23 

hand,  it  should  prove  to  be  the  Lord's  will  that  he  die 
in  Jerusalem,  he  would  have  spoken  his  message  at  least 
through  this  letter,  in  the  great  metropolis  of  the  world. 
It  was  probably  dictated  to  Tertius,  like  the  note  for 
Phoebe.  It  is  the  longest  of  his  letters.  Apparently, 
he  had  a  little  more  leisure  than  usual,  during  these 
closing  days  at  Corinth.  He  tells  the  Romans  how  for 
a  long  time  he  has  been  planning  to  come  and  visit  them 
and  ''be  set  forward  by  them"  to  Spain.  (Rom.  1 :  13-15; 
15:  22-28).  He  gives  them  a  full  statement  of  the  Gospel 
message  as  he  preached  it.  The  entire  human  race,  he 
says,  both  Jews  and  Gentiles,  is  in  deep  need  of  salvation 
from  sin.  We  have  a  knowledge  of  God's  will,  to  be  sure, 
both  in  our  consciences,  and  in  the  law  of  Moses,  but  no 
man,  in  his  own  unaided  strength,  can  obey  God's  law. 
We  are  too  weak  and  sinful.  God  has  therefore  sent  His 
Son  to  be  our  Saviour.  If  we  will  but  trust  Him,  His 
Spirit  will  transform  our  characters.  A  new  love  will 
be  kindled  in  our  hearts  which  will  manifest  itself  in  a 
life  of  righteousness  and  helpfulness.  In  a  touching 
closing  paragraph,  Paul  refers  again  to  his  hopes  and 
fears,  and  asks  the  Roman  Christians  to  pray  for  him, 
''that  I  may  be  delivered  from  them  that  are  disobedient 
in  Judea,  and  that  my  gift  which  I  have  for  Jerusalem 
may  be  acceptable  to  Christ's  people  there;  that  I  may 
come  to  you  in  joy  through  the  will  of  God,  and  together 
with  you  find  rest."     (Rom.  15:30-33). 

Rome  at  Last  —  But  A  Prisoner 

Paul's  prayer  was  answered,  but  only  in  part.  He 
did  come  to  Rome,  but  not  until  three  years  later,  and 
then  only  as  a  prisoner,  in  the  custody  of  a  Roman  cen- 
turion. He  had  barely  been  in  Jerusalem  a  week  or  so, 
when  he  was  mobbed  by  the  Jews  in  the  temple  court, 
and  nearly  killed.  Rescued  by  Roman  soldiers,  he  was 
sent  to  Csesarea  for  trial.  After  his  case  had  dragged 
along  through  two  years  marked  by  vexatious  delays,  he 
exercised  his  right  as  a  Roman  citizen  and  appealed  to 
Csesar,  and  was  sent  to  Rome  for  trial.     After  an  event- 


24  THE   STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

ful  voyage,  and  a  shipwreck  which  nearly  cost  him  his 
Hfe,  he  reached  Rome,  in  chains.  His  heart  must  have 
beat  fast,  as  for  the  first  time  he  walked  along  the  streets 
of  the  famous  city,  the  capital  of  the  world.  Yet  what 
a  disappointment!  He  was  naturally  so  full  of  energy, 
and  he  had  planned  such  great  things.  Had  he  been 
free,  how  quickly  he  would  have  explored  the  city  and 
all  that  region!  What  an  impetus  he  would  have  given 
to  the  Christian  movement  there!  Instead  of  that, 
however,  he  must  sit,  day  after  day,  chained  to  a  soldier. 
Nevertheless,  Paul  was  not  the  man  to  mope  and  whine. 
He  always  proceeded  cheerfully  to  make  the  best  of  things ; 
and  being  granted  the  privilege,  somewhat  unusual  for 
a  prisoner,  of  living  in  his  own  hired  house,  he  was  able 
to  do  much  good  service  for  the  cause  of  Christ.  He 
could  talk  with  those  who  came  to  see  him.  Through 
these  visitors,  he  could  send  letters  far  and  wide. 

Each  of  these  avenues  of  influence  is  illustrated  in  the 
story  of  two  men  who  set  out  from  Paul's  lodgings  one 
day,  to  take  ship  for  Asia  Minor.  The  older  of  the  two 
was  one  of  Paul's  lieutenants  named  Tychicus.  Paul 
was  sending  him  to  certain  churches  in  the  province  of 
Asia,  east  of  Ephesus,  especially  the  church  in  the  town 
of  Colossse.  Paul  himself  had  never  visited  this  district. 
The  young  man  with  Tychicus  was  a  runaway  slave 
named  Onesimus.  He  had  stolen  money  from  his  master, 
and  had  fled  to  Rome.  Some  friend  of  Paul's  had  found 
him  wandering  about  the  city,  friendless  and  disconsolate, 
and  had  brought  him  to  the  apostle.  Through  Paul's 
influence  he  became  a  Christian,  and  when  at  last  he  told 
his  whole  story,  it  came  out  that  he  had  belonged  to  an 
old  friend  and  convert  of  Paul  himself,  a  man  named 
Philemon,  who  was  living  at  that  time  in  Colossse. 
So  Paul  said  to  the  young  man,  ''Onesimus,  why  don't 
you  go  back  to  your  old  master,  with  Tychicus  here? 
Surely  it  is  providential  that  he  is  just  about  to  set  sail 
for  that  very  city,  Colossse.  I  will  write  a  letter  for  you 
to  take  to  Philemon,  and  I  am  sure  he  will  forgive  you." 
So  Paul  wrote  a  kindly,  courteous  note,  the  ''Epistle  to 


THE   TRADITIONAL   HOUSE   OF   ST.    PAUL   IX   ROME. 


PLANS   OF  A  RELIGIOUS   STATESMAN      25 

Philemon."  In  this  letter  he  shows  himself  a  true 
Christian  gentleman.  (Read  Philemon,  verses  8-10.) 
He  also  wrote  two  letters  for  Tychicus  to  deliver.  One 
was  addressed  to  the  Christians  in  Colossse,  and  is  known 
to  us  as  ''The  Epistle  to  the  Colossians."  The  other  is 
called  in  the  New  Testament,  ''The  Epistle  to  the  Ephe- 
sians,"  but  was  probably  a  circular  letter  intended  for 
all  the  churches  in  that  region.  In  these  letters,  Paul 
says  to  his  readers  that  love  for  Christ  should  be  the 
supreme  motive  of  their  lives.     ' '  Seek  the  things  that  are 

above,  where  Christ  is Set  your  mind  on  the  things 

that  are  above,  not  on  the  things  that  are  upon  the  earth." 
(Col.  3:1-21).  With  these  letters  therefore,  the  two 
men  sst  out  together.  When  they  reached  Colossse, 
Onesimus  was  doubtless  received  back  into  Philemon's 
household,  "no  longer  as  a  servant,  but  as  more  than  a 
servant,  a  brother  beloved";  and  wherever  Tychicus 
went  he  had  only  to  say  the  magic  word,  "A  letter  from 
Paul,"  to  be  sure  of  the  most  cordial  welcome. 

The  Deepening  Shadows 

Our  knowledge  of  the  closing  scenes  of  Paul's  life  is 
very  fragmentary.  It  seems  unlikely  that  he  ever  carried 
out  his  ambition  to  go  to  Spain.  He  was  finally  put  to 
death  by  order  of  the  Roman  emperor  Nero.  Our 
chief  source  of  information  regarding  the  course  of  events 
during  this  period  is  from  his  letter  to  the  Philippians. 
This  was  a  letter  thanking  his  old  friends  in  Philippi  for 
a  gift  of  money.  Prisoners,  in  those  days,  w^ere  not 
supported  by  the  government.  Their  food  and  clothing 
and  other  necessities  had  to  be  provided  by  friends. 
When  Paul  first  reached  Rome,  he  seems  to  have  been  well 
supplied  with  money,  through  the  generosity  of  the 
churches.  For  two  years  he  was  able  to  rent  a  house 
in  which  he  was  held  as  a  prisoner.  But  alas  for  poor 
himian  nature,  it  is  so  easy  to  forget  an  absent  friend, 
no  matter  how  dear  he  has  been  to  us.  The  churches 
were  busy  with  their  own  affairs,  and  gradually  Paul 
began  to  suffer  from  want.     No  doubt  he  had  to  give  up 


26  THE   STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

his  lodgings,  and  he  was  then  thrown  into  some  Roman 
dungeon.  Probably  he  even  suffered  from  cold  and  hun- 
ger. Just  as  his  suffering  was  growing  acute,  however, 
there  came  a  welcome  visitor.  A  messenger  from  the 
Philippian  Christians  a  man  named  Epaphroditus  had 
sought  him  out.  The  Philippians  had  surmised  that 
Paul  would  need  more  money,  and  had  raised  a  consider- 
able sum,  and  had  bidden  Epaphroditus  to  take  it  to  him 
as  quickly  as  possible.  The  messenger  had  been  faithful 
to  his  trust.  He  had  been  sick  on  his  way  to  Rome,  but 
realizing  that  Paul's  need  might  perhaps  be  urgent, 
he  had  kept  steadily  on  his  way.  When  he  staggered 
into  Paul's  dungeon  that  day,  he  was  in  truth  a  very  sick 
man,  and  he  nearly  died  from  the  effects  of  his  journey. 
Paul's  heart  was  touched  to  the  depths.  Here  was  a 
church  then,  whose  members  had  not  forgotten  him, 
here  was  a  man  who  was  willing  to  risk  his  life,  to  help 
him  in  his  need.  As  soon  as  Epaphroditus  was  again 
able  to  travel,  Paul  sent  him  back  to  Philippi  with  a 
veritable  love  letter  for  his  friends  there.  **  Thank 
you,  and  God  bless  you"  — is  the  keynote  of  it. 

Still  later,  Paul  wrote  a  letter  or  letters  to  his  best 
loved  lieutenant,  Timothy.  At  this  time,  or  earlier 
he  also  wrote  a  short  note  to  Titus.  These  letters  to 
Timothy  and  Titus  have  probably  not  been  preserved 
in  the  form  in  which  Paul  wrote  them.  In  later  times, 
all  of  Paul's  letters  were  read  in  the  meetings  of  the 
Christians,  and  long  sections  seem  to  have  been  added 
to  these  short  personal  notes  in  order  to  make  them  more 
useful  in  public  w;orship.  There  is  one  passage  in  II 
Timothy,  however,  which  is  almost  certainly  from  Paul's 
own  hand.  **I  am  already  being  offered,"  he  says, 
"and  the  time  of  my  departure  has  come.  I  have  fought 
a  good  fight,  I  have  finished  the  course,  I  have  kept  the 
faith."  (II  Tim.  4:6-8.)  Evidently  Paul  has  been 
condemned  to  die,  and  writes  this  letter  to  comfort 
Timothy,  and  to  help  him  to  say,  "I  also  will  try  to  fight 
the  good  fight  no  matter  how  hard  a  fight  it  may  prove 
to  be."     When  Timothy  next  visited  one  of  the  old 


PLANS  OF  A  RELIGIOUS  STATESMAN     27 

churches,  Ephesus,  perhaps,  or  Philippi,  or  Corinth, 
no  doubt  the  people  crowded  around  him  as  usual. 
"Have  you  a  letter  for  us,  from  Paul,"  they  said.  But 
they  read  their  answer  in  the  look  on  Timothy's  face. 
*'No,  comrades,  there  wdll  be  no  more  letters  for  you, 
from  your  old  captain.  All  that  remains  now,  is  to  treas- 
ure up  his  memory,  and  like  him  to  'fight  the  good  fight, 
to  finish  our  course,  to  keep  the  faith.'  " 


CHAPTER  V 

AN   EYE   WITNESS   OF  JESUS'   ARREST 

John  Mark  and  His  Gospel 

(Written  about  70  A.  D.) 

The  Synoptic  Gospels 
Next  after  the  letters  of  Paul,  the  earliest  New  Testa- 
ment writings  were  the  three  Gospels,  now  known  as 
Mark,  Matthew,  and  Luke.  These  books  are  in  many 
ways  very  similar,  and  are  therefore  classed  together. 
They  are  called  the  Synoptic  Gospels.  This  word, 
"synoptic,"  means,  "from  the  same  point  of  view." 
In  this  chapter,  we  take  up  the  story  of  the  Gospel  of 
Mark,  which  was  written  about  ten  or  fifteen  years  after 
the  death  of  Paul. 

A  Boy  who  Tried  to  Warn  His  Mother's  Friend 
Among  those  present  in  the  Garden  of  Gethsemane 
when  Jesus  was  arrested,  was  probably  a  yoimg  man 
named  John  Mark.  Earlier  that  evening  Jesus  had 
eaten  supper  with  His  disciples.  The  place  of  the  supper 
was  probably  an  upper  room  in  Mark's  home.  The 
house  belonged  to  Mark's  mother,  a  widow  named  Mary. 
We  can  picttire  the  scene.  The  family  had  been  awakened 
not  long  after  the  departure  of  their  guests,  by  a  loud 
knocking  at  the  street  door.  When  Mary  opened  the 
door,  she  saw  before  her  a  crowd  of  men,  carrying  torches, 
and^'armed  with  swords  and  clubs.  Their  leader,  who 
wore  the  garb  of  a  priest,  asked  for  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
When  they  had  assured  themselves  that  Jesus  was  not 
in  the  house,  they  went  away,  grumbling  and  cursing. 
Mary  hurried  to  her  son,  who  had  been  awakened  by  the 
commotion,  and  told  him  that  a  wicked  plot  was  on  foot 
against  the  Master.     "And  they  will  go  straight  from 

28 


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AN   EYE   WITNESS   OF  JESUS'   ARREST     29 

here  to  the  Oil  Press  on  the  Mount  of  Olives,"  added 
Mary.  "Judas  knows  that  Jesus  often  sleeps  there, 
and  they  will  find  Him  there  tonight."  Springing  from 
his  mattress,  and  stopping  only  to  wrap  a  linen  sheet 
about  him  (for  the  night  was  chilly),  Mark  set  out  to 
warn  Jesus.  Hurrying  out  of  the  house,  he  was  off 
through  the  dark  narrow  streets,  without  a  moment's 
delay.  He  was  young  and  strong,  and  he  hoped  to  cover 
the  two  miles  or  so  to  the  old  olive  orchard,  sooner  than 
the  men  with  Judas.  When,  at  last,  however,  he  came 
breathless  up  the  hill  to  the  orchard  gate,  the  torches 
were  there  ahead  of  him.  By  their  glare,  and  by  the 
light  of  the  full  moon,  he  could  see  Jesus'  hands  being 
tied ;  he  saw  the  blow  which  cut  off  the  ear  of  the  servant 
of  the  high  priest;  finally  he  saw  the  disciples  turn  and 
run.  After  this  the  men  set  out  with  Jesus  in  the  direction 
of  the  city.  As  they  passed  out  the  gate  and  started 
down  the  hill,  Mark  followed  along  behind,  almost 
broken  hearted  that  he  had  come  too  late.  Drawing 
up  a  little  too  close,  he  was  seen  by  one  of  the  men,  who 
turned  and  seized  him,  thinking  that  he  was  one  of  the 
disciples.  Slipping  out  however,  from  the  folds  of  the 
sheet  which  he  was  wearing,  Mark  left  it  in  the  man's 
hand,  and  fled  away. 

Telling  the  Story  of  Jesus 

A  few  weeks  later,  there  was  a  gathering  of  men  and 
women,  mostly  Galileans,  in  Mark's  home,  perhaps  in 
that  same  upper  room  where  Jesus  had  eaten  the  Last 
Supper.  What  wonderful  events  had  happened  since 
that  tragic  night,  when  Mark  had  sped  across  the  Kidron 
valley  on  his  errand  of  warning !  Jesus  had  been  crucified. 
And  yet,  He  still  lived!  Every  member  of  that  little 
band  in  Mark's  home,  had  been  in  His  presence.  They 
were  a  joyous  company  therefore.  ''Jesus  is  still  alive, 
and  will  one  day  be  the  King  of  Israel."  This  was  the 
thought  which  filled  their  minds.  Their  hopes  were 
chiefly  of  the  future,  when  that  Kingdom  was  to  be 
estabhshed,  but  they  could  not  forget  the  past.     How 


30  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

they  must  have  loved  to  rehearse  together  their  memories 
of  Jesus.  One  after  another  would  tell  of  this  incident 
or  that.  Among  those  who  Hstened,  with  vshining  eyes, 
was  Mark,  sitting  with  his  mother;  and  when  they  talked 
of  Jesus'  arrest,  the  young  man  could  contain  himself 
no  longer.  ''I  was  there,"  he  cried,  and  then,  of  course, 
he  had  to  tell  the  story  of  his  experience  that  night. 
The  disciples  were  deeply  interested,  and  for  a  special 
reason.  The  Jews  claimed  that  Jesus  could  not  be  the 
Messiah,  for  He  had  been  crucified.  The  disciples 
replied  that  Jesus  died  for  the  sins  of  others,  even  as 
was  foretold  in  the  Book  of  Isaiah:  "He  was  bruised  for 
our  transgressions."  Now  this  story  of  Mark  helped 
to  prove  the  truth  of  their  belief;  for  Mark  could  testify 
that  Jesus  made  no  attempt  to  escape  or  to  resist  those 
who  came  to  arrest  Him.  On  the  contrary,  He  *4aid 
down  His  life,"  of  His  own  free  will.  It  was  perhaps 
because  he  could  give  this  testimony  that  Mark,  in  spite 
of  his  youth,  quickly  rose  to  prominence  as  a  leader 
among  the  disciples.  A  few  years  later,  he  went  with 
Paul,  and  with  his  uncle  Barnabas,  on  a  missionary  tour. 
It  was  perhaps  a  decade  or  so  later,  that  he  became  an 
assistant  of  Peter.  We  are  told  that  he  acted  as  Peter's 
interpreter.  Peter  himself  spoke  Aramaic,  a  dialect  of 
Hebrew,  the  mother  tongue  of  Jesus  and  of  all  the  early 
disciples  in  Palestine.  In  preaching  to  Greek-speaking 
people,  he  would  of  course  need  an  interpreter.  In  this 
missionary  work  Mark  had  many  opportunities  to  tell 
his  own  story.  In  winning  others  to  believe  in  Jesus 
the  disciples  found  that  one  of  their  most  effective  argu- 
ments was  the  simple  narrative  of  Jesus'  life.  Peter's 
missionary  sermons  seem  to  have  been  made  up  largely 
of  reminiscences  of  his  experiences  with  Jesus.  Mark 
also  would  no  doubt  be  called  on  many  times  to  tell 
how  he  was  present  when  Jesus  was  arrested,  and  how  he 
saw  Him  ''led  as  a  lamb  to  the  slaughter,"  for  the  sins 
of  men.  Doubtless,  many  a  heart  was  touched,  and  many 
a  disciple  won.  As  new  converts  came  into  the  churches, 
it  was  necessary  to  tell  them  over  and  over  again,  what 


AN   EYE   WITNESS   OF  JESUS'   ARREST     31 

kind  of  a  life  Jesus  had  lived  on  earth.  Those  who  could 
tell  anecdotes  about  Him  were  called  upon  at  their 
meetings.  Some  stories  as  for  example,  that  of  Mark, 
were  especially  popular;  for  they  listened  eagerly  to 
every  scrap  of  information  regarding  Jesus'  self-sacrificing 
death. 

A  Priceless  Treasure  in  Danger  of  Being  Lost 
For  the  first  few  years  after  Jesus'  death,  it  did  not 
occur  to  the  disciples  that  a  written  narrative  of  His 
life  would  ever  be  needed.  They  were  for  the  most  part, 
not  familiar  with  books,  or  with  their  value.  They  were 
not  looking  forward  to  twenty  centuries  of  Christian 
history.  On  the  contrary  they  supposed  that  Jesus  would 
return  within  a  few  years,  at  which  time,  ''this  present 
evil  world"  would  pass  away.  In  the  next  world  they 
would  need  no  books.  For  a  long  time  therefore,  the 
story  of  Jesus  was  handed  down  orally  from  teacher  to 
pupil,  and  from  friend  to  friend.  Those  who  told  these 
stories  no  doubt  tried  their  best  to  be  accurate.  Human 
memory  however  is  weak,  and  errors  easily  crept  into 
these  narratives.  There  was  an  unconscious  tendency 
to  over-emphasize  some  points,  and  to  neglect  others 
perhaps  more  important.  As  time  went  on,  it  became 
more  difficult  to  correct  such  errors  by  the  testimony 
of  eye  witnesses  for  death  thinned  the  ranks  of  those  who 
had  been  with  Jesus.  Many  perished  as  martyrs.  Peter 
himself  was  crucified  by  Nero.  Finally  the  disciples 
began  to  realize  that  the  facts  regarding  Jesus  were  in 
danger  of  being  forgotten.  Those  eye  witnesses  therefore 
who  still  remained,  were  urged  to  write  down  their  rec- 
ollections. Written  narratives  were  accordingly  pre- 
pared, and  were  read  at  the  church  gatherings  in  place 
of  stories  told  from  memory.  In  the  case  of  the  more 
popular  stories,  as  that  of  the  Supper  by  the  Sea,  a  number 
of  different  narratives  were  prepared  by  different  men. 

The  Gospel  of  Mark 
At  this  period  in  the  history  of  the  church,  John  Mark 
was  probably  living  in   Rome.     Peter  seems   to  have 


32  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

spent  his  last  days  in  that  city,  and  Mark  may  have 
remained  there.  We  may  imagine  that  some  friend  of 
his  spoke  to  him  somewhat  as  follows:  ''Brother  Mark, 
you  were  an  intimate  associate  of  the  Apostle  Peter; 
again  and  again  you  must  have  heard  him  tell  of  incidents 
of  Jesus'  life.  You  yourself  saw  Jesus  arrested.  You 
ought  by  all  means  to  write  these  things  down,  before 
you  forget  them.  We  need  such  a  book  in  our  mis- 
sionary work."  So  Mark  wrote  for  the  Roman  Christians 
the  book  which  we  call  the  Gospel  of  Mark.  It  was 
largely  a  collection  of  the  stories  of  Peter.  To  some  extent 
it  probably  reproduced  Peter's  own  language.  Naturally 
enough,  the  chief  character  in  it,  next  to  Jesus  was  Peter. 
We  even  find  in  it  the  story  of  Peter's  denial,  which  is 
doubtless  just  what .  honest,  humble  Peter  would  have 
wished.  Throughout  his  book,  Mark  tried  to  be  accurate. 
He  seems  to  have  had  accurate  information  regarding  all 
the  more  important  events,  but  his  sources  of  information 
were  not  always  perfect.  For  example  he  did  not  know 
the  exact  order  in  which  many  of  the  events  in  Jesus 
life  occurred.  He  had  heard  Peter  relating  one  anecdote 
or  another  in  accordance  with  the  needs  of  his  hearers 
and  he  evidently  set  down  these  events  in  the  order  that 
seemed  most  probable.  To  some  extent,  in  addition  to 
what  he  remembered  from  Peter,  he  made  use  of  narra- 
tives which  had  already  been  written,  copying  them  into 
his  book.  Sometimes  he  copied  two  stories  which  he 
thought  represented  two  distinct  events,  but  which  were 
really  two  different  accounts  of  the  same  event.  (Com- 
pare Mark  6:30-43  with  Mark  8:1;  10.)  At  one  im- 
portant point  in  the  story,  however,  he  did  not  need  to 
rely  on  the  testimony  of  others.  At  the  close  of  his  account 
of  Jesus'  arrest,  he  added  this  sentence:  ''And  a  certain 
young  man  followed  with  him,  having  a  linen  cloth  cast 
about  him,  and  they  laid  hold  on  him;  but  he  left  the 
Hnen  cloth  and  fled  away  naked."  It  is  quite  possible 
that  he  was  an  eye-witness  of  other  events  in  that  closing 
week,  besides  the  arrest  in  Gethsemane.  At  any  rate, 
his  mother  must  have  been  in  close  touch  with  Jesus  and 
the  disciples,  and  a  keen  wit  ted  young  man  like  Mark 


AN  EYE   WITNESS   OF  JESUS'  ARREST     33 

could  not  have  failed  to  know  what  was  going  on.  As  a 
result,  his  accoimt  of  the  closing  days  of  Jesus'  life  is 
very  full  and  complete.  This  life  of  Jesus  by  Mark, 
was  so  much  better  than  any  of  the  other  narratives 
which  had  been  written,  that  these  others  were  no  longer 
used  and  soon  all  copies  seem  to  have  been  lost.  Other 
important  Gospels  were  written  later,  as  we  shall  see,  of 
which  Matthew,  Luke  and  John,  have  been  preserved 
in  our  New  Testament.  These  Gospels  give  us  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  which  Mark  for  the  most  part  omitted. 
They  also  give  us  some  very  valuable  additional  in- 
formation regarding  Jesus'  deeds,  and  the  events  in  His 
life.  These  other  writers,  however,  relied  on  Mark  for 
the  main  body  of  their  story  of  His  deeds.  As  we  shall 
see,  Matthew  and  Luke  copied  into  their  Gospels  practi- 
cally the  whole  of  Mark.  It  is  to  Mark,  therefore,  that 
we  are  chiefly  indebted  for  our  knowledge  of  the  coin"se 
of  Jesus'  life.  And  what  a  story  he  has  told  us!  Not 
that  Mark  was  a  literar\^  genius.  His  language  is  not 
particularly  elegant.  He  simply  told  what  he  knew, 
in  plain,  straightforward  sentences.  But  through  him, 
we  hear  Peter's  voice,  telling  us  of  his  association  with 
the  Master.  Through  Mark,  for  example,  we  go  with 
Peter  and  Jesus  into  Peter's  lowly  fisherman's  cottage 
in  Capernaum.  Through  Mark,  we  see  the  crowds 
gather  around  the  cottage  door,  when  the  sun  had  set, 
and  we  see  the  many  sick  people  restored  to  health  by 
the  healing  touch  of  Jesus.  Through  Mark,  we  seem  to 
hear  the  voice  of  Jesus  calling  to  us,  across  the  rippling 
waves  of  the  lake,  "Follow  me."  Countless  multitudes, 
through  Mark's  story,  have  *'left  all,"  like  Peter,  to 
follow  Jesus.  Above  all,  what  an  influence  has  been 
wielded  by  Mark's  story  of  Passion  Week:  from  the 
triumphal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  to  the  betrayal,  arrest, 
trial,  crucifixion  and  resurrection.  What  would  the 
Christian  religion  be  without  the  story  of  the  Cross? 
We  may  truly  say  that  this  story  as  told  by  Mark  has 
created  Christian  history,  and  it  remains  today  the 
supreme  influence  for  the  creation  and  development  of 
Christian  character. 


CHAPTER  VI 
CHERISHING    THE    SAYINGS    OF    JESUS 
The    Gospel  of  Matthew 

(Written  about  80  A.  D.) 

A  Teacher  who  Wrote  his  Messages  only  on  Men's 

Hearts 
Only  once  in  the  Gospel  records  is  there  reference  to 
Jesus'  use  of  writing.  When  the  Pharisees  brought  into 
his  presence  a  sinful  woman,  and  asked  him  what  punish- 
ment should  be  inflicted  upon  her,  he  **  stooped  down  and 
with  his  finger  wrote  on  the  ground."  (John  8:6.) 
Jesus,  then,  knew  how  to  write,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
the  scribes  considered  him  uneducated.  (John  7:15.) 
For  the  most  part,  however,  He  made  little  use  of  the 
art  of  writing.  When  He  died  He  left  behind  him  no 
books.  This  is  all  the  more  remarkable,  when  we  con- 
sider His  astonishing  anticipations  for  the  future.  He 
believed  that  His  life  and  work  were  introducing  a  new 
era  in  history,  the  triumph  of  God's  kingdom  in  all  the 
earth.  This  belief  must  have  seemed  to  many  like  a 
beautiful  but  impossible  dream.  Yet  when  His  disciples 
were  discouraged  because  so  few  persons  were  being  in- 
fluenced by  His  message,  He  said  to  them,  ''The  Kingdom 
of  God  is  like  a  grain  of  mustard  seed,  which  indeed  is  less 
than  all  seeds,  but  when  it  is  grown  ...  it  becometh  a 
tree."  In  this  parable,  Jesus  implies  that  His  influence 
will  not  be  limited  to  the  few  disciples  who  can  listen 
to  his  voice,  but  will  be  vastly  extended,  until  the  tiny 
mustard  seed  becomes  a  great  tree.  Yet  it  never  seemed 
to  occur  to  Jesus  to  hasten  this  extension  of  His  influence 
by  writing  down  His  teachings.  These  sayings,  and 
especially  His  parables,  are  classed  with  the  world's 
supreme  masterpieces  of  literary  beauty.     Yet  He  made 

34 


CHERISHING   SAYINGS   OF  JESUS  85 

no  effort  to  preserve  them  in  written  form.  He  was 
content  that  the  beautiful  form  of  His  sayings  should 
be  forgotten.  He  did  not  even  urge  His  disciples  to 
commit  His  words  to  memory.  His  great  injunction, 
was  not  ''remember"  but  *'do."  His  chief  desire  was 
that  they  should  take  His  truth  to  heart,  and  practice 
it  in  their  lives.  "Every  one  that  heareth  these  words 
of  mine,  and  doeth  them,  shall  be  likened  unto  a  wise  man.'* 
With  sublime  faith,  He  was  only  anxious  that  His  truth 
should  be  planted  in  the  hearts  of  living  men;  thus.  He 
believed,  it  would  be  transmitted  through  them  to  others, 
until  at  last  the  Kingdom  should  triumph  on  the  earth. 

Keeping  in  Memory  the  Master's  Words 

Nevertheless,  Jesus'  disciples  from  the  very  beginning 
were  careful  to  memorize  word  for  word  as  many  of  His 
sayings  as  possible.  This  was  in  harmony  with  the  cus- 
toms and  ideas  of  that  age.  In  Judea  of  old,  as  in  China 
up  to  recent  years,  the  chief  business  of  pupils  in  school 
was  to  commit  their  lessons  to  memory.  Every  Jewish 
rabbi  of  that  day  had  his  circle  of  pupils,  who  strove  to 
store  away  in  their  minds  every  syllable  of  his  utterances. 
''A  good  pupil,"  says  one  of  their  proverbs,  ^'is  like  a 
cistern  lined  with  mortar,  from  which  not  a  drop  of  water 
can  leak  out."  There  were  many  such  pupils,  and  their 
feats  of  memory  were  truly  astonishing.  An  enormous 
mass  of  Rabbinic  teaching,  much  of  it  exceedingly  dull 
and  uninteresting,  was  handed  down  through  centuries 
of  oral  tradition,  with  very  few  mistakes,  and  may  now 
be  found  in  the  Jewish  book,  The  Talmud.  So  likewise, 
the  disciples  of  Jesus  were  able  to  remember  almost  the 
exact  words  of  many  of  their  Master's  more  important 
sayings.  No  doubt  in  their  leisure  hours  they  repeated 
them  to  one  another,  and  helped  to  refresh  each  other's 
memories.  Surely  no  utterances  were  ever  easier  to 
remember.  The  difficult  thing  would  have  been  to 
forget  them.  His  sentences  were  short  and  crisp.  His 
figures  of  speech  were  homely  and  striking.  He  loved 
proverbs  and  paradoxes.     "Let  not  thy  right  hand  know 


36  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

what  thy  left  hand  doeth."  "He  that  would  save  his 
life  shall  lose  it."  ''He  that  loseth  his  life  shall  find  it." 
Such  sayings  as  these  are  unforgettable.  They  worked 
their  way  once  for  all  into  the  very  souls  of  men.  Many 
of  Jesus'  sayings  were  poetical  in  form,  and  poetry  is 
always  easier  to  remember  than  prose.  The  following 
saying,  for  example,  really  consists  of  two  stanzas  of 
Hebrew  poetry. 

"  Ask  and  it  shall  be  given  you; 
Seek,  and  ye  shall  find; 
Knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you. 

"  For  every  one  that  asketh,  receiveth; 
And  he  that  seeketh,  findeth; 
And  to  him  that  knocketh,  it  shall  be  opened." 

Note  the  parallelism  in  thought  between  the  lines  of  each 
stanza.  Finally,  and  best  of  all,  Jesus  loved  to  illustrate 
His  meaning  with  stories,  —  and  such  stories !  Each  one 
was  a  perfect  picture,  not  a  single  word  lacking,  not  a 
single  word  too  many.  Certainly  the  disciples  could 
have  had  little  difficulty  in  remembering  such  stories  as 
The  Sower,  The  Hidden  Treasure,  The  Lost  Sheep,  or 
The  Good  Samaritan.  With  what  loving  care  they 
cherished  these  stories  and  all  the  sayings  of  Jesus, 
seeking  to  pass  them  on  to  others  just  as  they  first  fell 
from  their  Master's  lips.  For  years,  perhaps  for  decades, 
after  Jesus'  death  His  teachings  were  handed  down  to 
new  converts  in  oral  form.  They  were  repeated 
at  the  meetings  of  the  disciples,  just  like  the  stories  of 
His  deeds  and  the  events  in  His  life,  except  that  they  were 
guarded  even  more  carefully  from  omissions  and  mistakes. 

The  First  Written  Collections  of  the  Words  of 

Jesus 

Notwithstanding  all  this  care  and  effort,  some  errors 
began  to  creep  into  even  this  transmission  of  the  teachings 
of  Jesus.  The  disciples  could  not  help  remembering 
best,  those  sayings  which  they  themselves  best  understood 


CHERISHING   SAYINGS   OF  JESUS  37 

and  appreciated.  Other  sayings  equally  important, 
gradually  faded  from  their  minds,  or  else  lived  on  in  a 
more  or  less  distorted  form.  Often  alas,  it  would  be 
the  boldest,  the  noblest,  the  most  original  of  the  great 
Teacher's  utterances  which  would  be  the  most  imperfectly 
understood.  As  the  image  of  a  lovely  face  may  be  marred 
by  flaws  in  a  mirror,  so  the  great  thoughts  of  Jesus  were 
sometimes  imperfectly  transmitted  as  a  result  of  the 
moral  weakness  or  the  spiritual  dullness  of  the  disciples. 
A  good  example  of  this  process  of  partial  distortion  may 
perhaps  be  found  in  Matt.  10:5-6.  "These  twelve 
Jesus  sent  forth,  and  charged  them,  saying,  Go  not  into 
any  way  of  the  Gentiles,  and  enter  not  into  any  city  of 
the  Samaritans,  but  go  rather  to  the  lost  sheep  of  the 
house  of  Israel."  No  doubt,  Jesus  regarded  himself 
as  specially  called  to  save  the  "lost  sheep  of  the  house  of 
Israel,"  and  he  may  have  advised  his  disciples  on  their 
first  missionary  tour  not  to  attempt  at  that  time  to  preach 
to  Gentiles.  But  Jesus,  Himself,  both  preached  to 
Samaritans,  and  told  the  story  of  the  good  Samaritan ;  and 
we  cannot  believe  that  He  ever  commanded  his  disciples 
not  to  enter  into  any  Samaritan  city.  This  was  merely 
the  mistaken  inference  of  some  Jewish  Christian  who 
shared  the  prejudices  of  the  average  Jew,  in  his  attitude 
toward  the  people  of  this  despised  and  hated  province, 
Samaria,  and  who  was  perhaps  offended  also  by  the 
Gentile  missions  of  Peter  and  Paul.  Doubtless  this 
narrow  minded  Christian  really  believed  that  these 
missions  among  the  Samaritans  and  among  the  Gentiles 
were  contrary  to  the  wishes  of  Jesus.  As  a  result  of  these 
imperfections  of  character  and  memory,  there  came  to 
be  conflicting  versions  of  the  same  saying.  Disputes 
arose  in  the  meetings  of  the  disciples.  Some  one  would 
say  that  Jesus  taught  such  and  such  a  thing;  others 
would  insist  on  a  different  wording  and  interpretation. 
The  burning  question  would  arise:  what  did  Jesus  really 
say  regarding  this  matter?  Thus  it  came  about  that 
written  collections  of  Jesus'  sayings  began  to  be  prepared. 
The  most  important  of  these  collections  was  written  by 


38  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

the  Apostle  Matthew.  He  had  been  with  Jesus  almost 
from  the  beginning  of  his  work.  After  Jesus'  death  he 
seems  to  have  spent  all  his  life  in  Judea,  where  naturally 
the  sayings  of  Jesus  were  best  remembered.  Many 
copies  of  Matthew's  collection  were  quickly  made  and 
distributed  among  the  churches  in  Palestine.  Since  it 
was  written  in  Aramaic,  the  mother  tongue  of  Jesus  and 
His  first  disciples,  it  was  at  first  of  no  use  to  Greek-speak- 
ing Christians.  Before  long,  however,  it  was  translated 
into  Greek,  and  copies  of  this  Greek  version  were  widely 
distributed.  Many  a  little  group  of  new  converts,  who 
had  never  been  able  to  hear  the  words  of  Jesus,  except 
when  some  traveling  apostle  came  to  visit  their  church, 
were  now  able  to  read  them  for  themselves. 

The  Gospel  of  Matthew 

Thus  there  had  come  into  existence  two  books  about 
Jesus;  first,  Mark's  story  of  His  life  (see  Chapter  five), 
and  second,  Matthew's  collection  of  His  sayings.  Many 
churches  had  a  copy  of  both,  and  a  passage  from  each  was 
frequently  read  at  their  regular  meetings.  Then  came 
the  thought,  would  it  not  be  a  good  thing  to  combine 
these  two  books  into  one?  "  In  one  "  they  said,  ''we  have 
a  collection  of  Jesus'  sayings,  but  it  tells  us  very  little  as 
to  the  occasions  when  Jesus  uttered  them.  In  the  other 
is  a  story  of  the  events  of  Jesus' life,  but  it  tells  us  little 
concerning  the  words  which  He  spoke."  It  was  to  meet 
the  need  for  such  a  combination,  that  the  book  was 
written  which  we  call  the  Gospel  of  Matthew.  The 
name  of  the  real  author  we  do  not  know.  He  must  have 
been  a  man  of  ability  and  education.  He  was  a  Christian 
Jew,  and  was  particularly  anxious  to  tell  his  story  in  such 
a  way  as  to  attract  Jews.  He  was  especially  fond  of 
pointing  out  how  Old  Testament  prophesies  had  been 
fulfilled  in  the  life  of  Jesus.  Suppose  we  call  him  Matthew 
the  Second.  His  book  came  to  be  known  as  Matthew's 
Gospel,  because  a  large  part  of  it  consisted  of  extracts 
from  Matthew's  collection  of  sayings.  In  fitting  these 
extracts  into  the  framework  of  Mark's  story,  he  simply 


CHERISHING   SAYINGS   OF  JESUS  39 

used  his  own  judgment.  For  example  he  found  in  the 
older  collection,  an  address  which  was  evidently  spoken 
to  Jesus'  own  disciples;  on  the  other  hand,  he  found  in 
Mark's  story,  the  account  of  how  Jesus  went  up  into  a 
mountain,  and  chose  twelve  of  His  followers  to  be 
Apostles;  but  Mark  said  nothing  about  a  sermion  in  this 
connection.  In  the  new  book,  Matthew  the  Second 
inserted  the  address  to  the  disciples  just  at  this  point. 
Thus  it  has  come  to  pass  that  it  is  always  called  the 
Sermon  on  the  Mount.  Probably  some  of  the  passages 
which  this  author  included  were  really  spoken  on  other 
occasions,  for  example,  the  passage  in  Matt.  6:  19-34, 
which  bids  us  not  to  be  anxious  about  daily  bread,  is  not 
found  in  Luke's  version  of  this  sermon,  (Luke  6:20-49), 
but  appears  further  on  in  the  book.  The  second  Matthew, 
however,  liked  to  group  together  the  sayings  of  Jesus 
in  long  sermons,  each  of  them  bearing  on  a  certain  general 
subject.  On  the  whole,  these  arrangements  of  his  are 
very  logical,  and  the  various  passages  are  skilfully  fitted 
together.  His  version  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  for 
example,  will  always  hold  a  imique  place  in  the  hearts 
of  men. 

In  addition  to  the  older  collection  of  sayings,  and  the 
Gospel  of  Mark,  the  second  Matthew  included  in  his 
book  certain  other  stories.  The  most  im.portant  are 
those  of  Jesus'  birth  and  infancy  (Matt.  1-2).  No  one 
knows  where  he  found  these  stories.  Until  recently  they 
were  generally  accepted  as  historical  facts.  Some 
scholars,  how^ever,   regard  them  merely  as  popular  tra- 

^  ditions  which  grew  up  among  Christians  at  a  later  time. 

'  We  may  leave  this  problem  for  professional  scholars  to 
solve.  Fortunately  for  us,  we  need  feel  no  uncertainty 
regarding  the  main  facts  of  Jesus'  life  and  teaching. 
Although  the  early  disciples  were  human  like  ourselves, 
and  had  their  faults  and  weaknesses,  we  owe  them  an 
incalculable  debt.  Thanks  to  the  painstaking  and 
loving  care  with  which  they  wrote  those  simple,  honest 
narratives,  we  may  still  look  back  through  the  centuries 
of  forgetfulness  and  misunderstanding  to  the  real  Jesus. 


40  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

The  chief  value  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew  is  its  record 
of  the  sayings  of  Jesus.  In  the  beatitudes,  we  may  still 
find  the  secret  of  true  happiness.  In  those  heart-searching 
words  which  condemn  the  sinful  thought  as  well  as  the 
sinful  act,  and  in  those  others  which  insist  that  our  prayer 
and  our  every  act  of  worship  shall  be  absolutely  sincere, 
our  eyes  are  opened  to  a  new  ideal  of  goodness  and  religion. 
Finally  in  those  tender  words  about  God's  care  for  all 
His  creatures,  and  especially  for  His  human  children, 
we  may  still  learn  to  know  our  Heavenly  Father  whose 
love  Jesus  came  to  reveal. 


CHAPTER  VII 

A  COMPASSIONATE  PHYSICIAN 

The  Gospel  of  Luke,  and  the  Book  of  Acts 

(Written  about  80-90  A.  D.) 

The  Apostle  Paul  Inquiring  for  a  Doctor 
Among  the  cities  where  important  events  took  place 
in  early  Christian  history  we  should  not  forget  the  little 
seaport  town  of  Troas,  on  the  northwestern  coast  of  Asia 
Minor.  Here  Paul  came  with  Silas  and  Timothy,  at 
the  beginning  of  what  is  known  as  his  second  missionary 
journey.  He  had  successfully  established  churches  in 
southern  Galatia,  and  was  planning  to  preach  the  Gospel 
elsewhere.  For  some  reason,  it  did  not  seem  wise,  at 
that  time,  to  go  to  Ephesus,  the  leading  city  of  Asia 
Minor,  so  with  his  companions  he  came  down  to  Troas, 
evidently  with  the  idea  of  setting  sail  for  some  region 
further  west  but  not  knowing  just  what  province  would 
offer  the  greatest  opportunities.  Here  he  seems  to  have 
been  seized  with  an  attack  of  his  chronic  illness,  and 
decided  to  send  for  a  physician.  His  friends  w^ere  directed 
to  a  man  named  Luke.  Few  events  in  Paul's  life  led  to 
more  important  consequences  than  this  seemingly  trivial 
incident.  Doctor  Luke  proved  to  be  a  gentleman  of 
education  and  refinement.  He  was  a  Greek  by  race;  in 
religion,  however,  he  was  possibly  already  a  believer  in 
the  God  of  Israel.  Very  likely  it  was  at  the  synagogue 
in  Troas  that  Silas  or  Timothy  heard  about  him.  In 
every  Gentile  city  there  were  many  Greeks  w^ho  attended 
the  Jewish  synagogue.  At  any  rate  we  may  suppose 
that  Luke  came  to  see  Paul  and  prescribed  for  his  ailment, 
while  Paul  no  doubt  told  Luke  about  Jesus  the  great 
Physician,  who  could  heal  the  souls  as  well  as  the  bodies 
of  men.     Luke  listened  with  eager  ears.     Never  had  he 

41 


42  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

heard  a  sweeter  story.  Nor  did  he  hesitate  long  before 
accepting  for  himself  the  new  Gospel,  and  declaring  him- 
self a  believer  in  Jesus  as  his  Master.  Shortly  afterward, 
Paul's  health  began  to  improve  and  once  more  the  little 
party  began  to  discuss  the  question,  "Where  shall  we  go?" 
One  day  while  talking  about  the  matter  in  the  presence  of 
their  new  friend  Luke,  the  latter  said  to  them,  **Why 
don't  you  go  over  to  Macedonia?  I  myself  used  to  live 
there;  in  fact  Philippi  is  my  native  city.  I  know  many 
who  woidd  Hsten  to  your  message.  If  you  will  take  up 
your  work  in  Macedonia,  I  will  go  with  you  as  far  as 
Philippi,  and  do  what  I  can  to  help  you."  Paul  was 
much  impressed  by  this  suggestion,  and  that  night  he 
dreamed  that  a  certain  man  from  Macedonia,  or  in  other 
words,  probably  Luke  himself,  stood  by  his  bed.  ''Come 
over  into  Macedonia  and  help  us,"  the  dream  messenger 
said.  When  Paul  awoke,  he  told  his  experience  to  his 
friends.  ''I  dreamed  last  night  that  I  saw  you,  Luke. 
You  came  and  said  to  me.  Come  over  into  Macedonia 
and  help  us."  The  friends  all  agreed  that  this  dream 
had  been  sent  from  God  as  a  special  call  to  them  to  begin 
their  mission  in  that  province.  So,  with  Luke  in  their 
party,  they  sailed  from  Troas  to  NeapoHs,  on  the  coast 
of  Macedonia,  and  thence  walked  ten  miles  inland  to 
PhiHppi,  where  Paul  began  his  great  missionary  campaign 
on  the  continent  of  Europe. 

Luke's  Visit  to  Jerusalem.     New  Facts  about  Jesus 

This  acquaintance  between  Paul  and  Luke,  led  to 
exceedingly  important  consequences  for  both  of  them; 
and  through  Luke,  as  well  as  through  Paul,  profoundly 
influenced  the  history  of  the  world.  When  Paul  left 
PhiHppi,  Luke  seems  to  have  remained  in  that  city. 
No  doubt  he  took  up  the  practice  of  his  profession,  and 
at  the  same  time  became  a  leader  in  the  newly  organized 
church.  About  seven  years  later,  Paul  came  back  to  this 
city,  for  a  short  visit.  He  was  raising  a  collection  in  all 
the  Gentile  churches  for  the  poor  in  the  church  at  Jeru- 
salem.    (See  Chapter  4).     He  wanted  the  Philippians 


A   COMPASSIONATE   PHYSICIAN  43 

to  make  a  contribution,  and  also  to  appoint  one  of  their 
number  to  go  along  with  him  to  Jerusalem  with  other 
delegates  from  all  the  leading  churches.  The  Philippians 
responded  generously  and  named  Luke  as  their  representa- 
tive. We  can  imagine  Luke's  joy.  Not  only  would  he 
be  able  to  renew  his  friendship  with  his  beloved  teacher, 
Paul,  but  he  would  also  see  the  land  where  Jesus  had  lived, 
and  would  be  able  to  talk  with  many  who  had  actually 
known  Jesus  in  the  flesh.  Luke  himself  tells  us  much 
about  this  epoch-making  journey  in  chapters  20-28  of 
the  Book  of  Acts.  From  the  moment  when  they 
landed  in  Palestine,  Luke  found  himself  thrown  in 
with  people  who  could  tell  him  about  the  early  days  of 
the  church,  and  about  the  life  of  Jesus.  They  stayed  a 
few  days  in  Caesarea,  and  were  entertained  at  the  home 
of  Philip  the  Evangelist,  who  had  been  one  of  the  seven 
men  appointed  for  special  service,  very  early  in  the  history 
of  the  church  at  Jerusalem.  (Acts  6:1-6,  21:8.)  In 
Jerusalem  also,  they  were  entertained  at  the  home  of  a 
certain  "early  disciple,"  named  Mnason.  How  eagerly 
Luke  must  have  made  use  of  these  opportunities.  **Did 
you  really  know  Jesus  when  He  w^as  on  earth?  Tell 
me  about  Him."  This  was  the  request  which  must  have 
been  upon  his  lips.  No  doubt  he  went  to  all  the  places 
where  Jesus  had  been ;  to  the  upper  room  in  John  Mark's 
home,  where  Jesus  had  eaten  the  last  supper  with  His 
disciples;  to  the  Mount  of  Olives,  whence  the  Triumphal 
Procession  had  set  out  with  their  hosannas,  and  up  which 
Judas  had  climbed  with  the  priests  and  their  band  of 
hirelings.  Surely  he  went  out  to  Bethany  also,  to  see 
Mary  and  Martha  and  their  friends. 

Through  these  conversations  Lulce  found  out  much 
about  the  Master's  life  which  was  not  generally  know^n 
among  the  churches.  In  this  we  have  another  illustration 
of  the  fact  that  ever>^  disciple  remembered  and  passed 
on  to  others  that  side  of  Jesus'  life  and  character  which 
he  himself  could  best  appreciate.  As  a  physician  Luke 
could  appreciate  especially  well  the  tenderness  and  com- 
passion of  Jesus  as  shown  in  healing  those  who  were  sick 


44  THE   STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

in  body  or  soul.  A  doctor  sees  more  than  other  men  see, 
of  the  sadness  and  sorrow  in  the  world.  And  the  world 
in  which  Luke  lived  was  even  sadder  and  more  sorrowful 
than  ours  today.  There  were  no  hospitals  for  the  sick, 
no  asylums  for  the  insane.  Nor  did  people  in  general 
seem  to  feel  much  pity  for  those  who  were  unfortunate, 
or  helpless,  or  stricken  with  pain.  The  rich  and  the  happy, 
for  the  most  part,  went  on  with  their  gayeties  quite 
indifferent  to  the  anguish  and  the  broken  hearts  on  every 
side.  As  a  physician  Luke  had  tried  to  do  his  part  to 
make  the  world  less  sad.  But  at  best  he  could  do  com- 
paratively little.  Medical  science  in  those  days  was  in 
its  infancy;  they  had  only  a  few  simple  remedies.  They 
were  almost  entirely  ignorant  of  proper  methods  of 
sanitation.  Great  epidemics  frequently  swept  over  the 
land  leaving  death  and  desolation  in  every  city  and 
village  and  the  doctors  were  absolutely  helpless  to  check 
their  advance.  Luke's  experience  as  a  physician,  there- 
fore, made  him  particularly  interested  in  Jesus  as  a 
successful  healer  of  the  sick,  and  the  friend  and  helper 
of  the  unfortunate.  This  same  medical  experience  also 
helped  Luke  to  appreciate  the  friendliness  of  Jesus  to 
people  of  all  races.  His  power  of  sympathy  had  been 
increased,  and  it  is  through  sympathy  that  we  realize 
that  black  people  and  yellow  people  after  all  are  human 
beings  like  ourselves;  ''subject  to  the  same  diseases, 
healed  by  the  same  means,  warmed  and  cooled  by  the 
same  summer  and  winter."  No  doubt  Luke  asked  the 
older  disciples  questions  like  these.  ''Was  Jesus  kind  to 
foreigners?  Did  he  teach  his  disciples  to  be  kind  to 
foreigners?  Tell  me  more  about  his  compassion  for  all 
who  were  in  trouble?"  It  was  perhaps  in  response  to 
some  such  question  as  the  above,  that  some  disciple 
related  to  him  the  story  which  Jesus  had  told  about  a 
Samaritan  who  was  kind  to  a  poor  traveller  who  had 
fallen  among  robbers.  When  Luke  heard  this  story  and 
others  hke  it  which  at  that  time  were  not  known  among 
the  churches  outside  of  Judea,  he  must  have  felt  himself 
to  be  the  discoverer  of  a  gold  mine.     Neither  he  nor 


THE  GOOD  SA:VIARITAX:  LUKE'S  IDEAL  OF  HIMSELF 
AS  A  PHYSICIAN. 

From  the  model  now  in  the  hall  of  the  Polyelinic  Hospital. 
Donated  by  ]Mrs.  John  Q.  A.  Ward 


A   COMPASSIONATE   PHYSICIAN  45 

his  fellow  Gentiles  had  begun  to  realize  what  a  wonderful 
Teacher  and  what  a  wonderful  Personality  Jesus  had  been. 
The  half  had  never  been  told  them.  For  the  sake  of  his 
friends  back  in  Philippi  and  elsewhere,  very  likely  he 
wrote  down  on  scraps  of  papyrus,  all  that  he  learned. 

The  Gospel  of  Luke 

It  was  probably  a  good  many  years  after  this  journey 
to  Jerusalem  that  Luke  finally  wrote  the  Gospel  which 
bears  his  name.  He  perhaps  felt  that  there  w^ere  others, 
w^ho  had  themselves  known  Jesus,  or  who  had  been  in 
close  touch  with  the  early  disciples  from  the  beginning, 
who  were  therefore  better  qualified  than  he  to  write  a 
story  of  Jesus'  life.  In  the  course  of  time,  as  we  have 
seen,  books  about  Jesus  were  indeed  prepared  by  com- 
petent writers,  the  best  of  them  being  the  Gospel  of  Mark 
and  Matthew's  collection  of  sayings.  Luke  had  a  copy 
of  each  of  these,  and  appreciated  their  great  value.  Yet 
he  could  not  help  feeling  disappointed  in  them.  Like 
the  author  of  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  whose  work  he 
had  not  seen,  he  felt  the  need  of  a  more  complete  ''Life 
of  Jesus,"  in  which  the  sayings  of  Jesus  would  be  fitted 
into  the  framework  of  the  events  in  His  life,  each  saying 
being  connected  with  the  original  occasion  which  called 
it  forth.  Even  if  He  had  known  of  Matthew's  Gospel, 
he  would  still  have  been  disappointed;  for  he  would 
have  searched  through  it  in  vain  for  just  those  deeds 
and  words  of  Jesus  which  he  himself  most  loved.  In 
order  to  give  to  the  churches  this  fuller  information,  he 
finally  wrote  his  Gospel.  He  dedicated  it  to  a  friend 
and  fellow-Christian  named  Theophilus.  (Luke  1:1-4). 
The  framework  of  his  Gospel,  like  that  of  the  second 
Matthew,  was  the  narrative  of  Mark.  Into  this  frame- 
work, the  sayings  are  fitted,  but  not  in  the  form  of  a  few 
long  sermons  as  in  Matthew,  but  scattered  here  and  there, 
in  many  different  connections.  In  this  arrangement 
he  was  perhaps  guided  not  only  by  his  own  judgment, 
but  by  actual  information,  gained  during  that  visit  to 
Jerusalem,  and  later.     Certainly   the  sayings  are  often 


46  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

exceedingly  appropriate  in  the  connection  which  Luke 
gives.  He  himself  tells  Theophilus  that  he  has  ''traced 
the  course  of  all  things  accurately  from  the  first."  In 
accordance  with  this  phrase,  ''from  the  first,"  he  places 
at  the  beginning  of  his  Gospel,  an  account  of  Jesus' 
birth  and  childhood.  This  is  quite  different  from  the 
account  of  Jesus'  birth  in  the  Gospel  of  Matthew,  and 
seems  to  contain  a  number  of  reminiscences  of  certain 
facts;  for  example,  Jesus'  birth  in  a  stable.  His  gradual 
growth  in  body  and  mind;  and  His  visit  at  the  temple 
in  Jerusalem,  when  He  was  twelve  years  old.  The 
supreme  service  of  Luke's  Gospel,  however,  is  in  giving 
us  additional  information  regarding  the  deeds  and  say- 
ings of  Jesus  during  His  active  career  as  a  teacher.  Had 
it  not  been  for  Luke,  the  parables  of  the  Good  Samaritan 
(Luke  10:  25-37),  the  Lost  Piece  of  Silver  (Luke  15:  8-10), 
the  Lost  Son  (Luke  15:  11-32),  the  Poor  Widow  and  the 
Unjust  Judge  (Luke  18 : 1-8),  the  Pharisee  and  the  Publican 
(Luke  18:  9-14),  and  many  other  sayings  would  have  been 
wholly  lost ;  Hkewise  the  story  of  the  sinful  woman  weeping 
at  Jesus'  feet,  the  story  of  Zaccheus  entertaining  Jesus 
in  Jericho,  and  the  story  of  the  penitent  thief  on  the  cross. 
All  these  are  just  such  stories  as  we  should  expect  from 
"Luke  the  beloved  physician."  They  are  all  of  them 
stories  of  the  compassionate  Jesus.  In  short,  the  Gospel 
which  Luke  has  given  us  is,  indeed,  as  Dr.  Wells  has  said, 

"  Luke  the  Physician's  Gospel!  —  comforting, 
Gracious  and  tender:  laying  gentle  touch 
Upon  the  festering  anguish  of  the  world, 
Pouring  in  oil  and  wine ;  its  ministries 
Halt  at  no  bounds  of  nation  or  of  race, 
But  offer  healing  to  a  world  diseased,  — 
Kind  Luke,  the  Gospel  of  the  Heart  of  Christ!" 

The  Book  of  Acts 

Theophilus  must  have  been  greatly  pleased  with  this 
beautiful  Gospel  of  his  friend  Luke.  In  fact  every  one 
was  pleased  with  it.  So  cordial  was  the  welcome  which 
it  everywhere  received,  that  the  author  was  encouraged 


A   COMPASSIONATE   PHYSICIAN  47 

to  UTite  another  book.  There  was  a  need  for  a  history 
of  the  church  from  the  time  of  the  death  of  Jesus.  In 
the  first  place  such  a  book  would  help  to  correct  mis- 
understanding regarding  the  Christians  in  the  minds  of 
unbelieving  Greeks  and  Romans.  All  kinds  of  slanders 
had  been  circulated  about  them.  It  was  charged  that 
they  were  atheists,  and  that  they  were  plotting  against 
the  Roman  government.  Many  Christians  had  been  put 
to  death  by  Roman  officials  because  of  these  misunder- 
standings. So  Luke  wrote  the  ''Acts  of  the  Apostles," 
telling  the  great  story  with  his  usual  carefulness  and  skill. 
He  took  special  pains  to  show  that  in  the  early  history  of 
the  church,  the  Roman  officials  regarded  it  as  an  entirely 
innocent  organization,  and  protected  its  leaders  from  the 
violence  of  ignorant  and  vicious  mobs.  In  this  book,  as 
in  the  Gospel,  we  see  the  physician's  point  of  view  coming 
to  the  front.  Luke  is  careful  to  show  that  the  early 
disciples  continued  the  deeds  of  healing  which  had  been 
performed  by  Jesus.  He  tells  how  Peter  and  John 
healed  the  lame  man  at  the  Beautiful  Gate  of  the  Temple; 
how  Philip  healed  the  lame  and  the  palsied  and  the 
demented  in  Samaria;  how  Paul  healed  the  poor  abused 
slave-girl  in  Philippi,  the  boy  Eutychus  who  fell 
from  the  third  story  window  in  Troas,  and  the  father  of 
Publius,  who  lay  sick  of  a  fever  in  the  island  of  Melita. 
In  this  book  also  as  in  the  Gospel,  we  see  the  same  sym- 
pathy with  men  of  all  nations  and  races.  In  fact  the 
main  theme  of  the  book  is  the  spread  of  the  Gospel  from 
Jerusalem  to  Samaria,  and  then  ' '  to  the  uttermost  parts 
of  the  earth."  What  a  delight  it  must  have  been  to 
Luke,  to  record  that  noble  address  of  Paul  to  the  Athenians 
on  Mars'  Hill,  in  which  the  apostle  declares  that  ''God 
hath  made  of  one,  all  nations  of  men!" 

Influence  of  the  Writings  of  Luke 

To  what  extent  Luke's  history  of  the  church  modified 
the  opinions  of  intelligent  Roman  officials  regarding 
Christianity,  we  do  not  know.  But  his  two  books  have 
each  exerted  an  enormous  influence  on  the  world,  from 


48  THE  STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

that  day  to  this.  They  have  helped  to  make  Christianity 
a  religion  of  sympathy  and  of  healing.  In  many  cities 
we  have  a  St.  Luke's  hospital  dedicated  to  the  beloved 
physician  who  has  told  us  more  than  anyone  else  about 
Jesus  as  the  compassionate  Healer.  It  is  Luke's  influence 
in  considerable  measure  which  has  sent  medical  mis- 
sionaries into  ''the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth,'*  to 
minister  to  all  nations  of  men.  We  are  living  today  in 
the  midst  of  a  wonderful  revival  of  the  spirit  of  sym- 
pathy. Hosts  of  men  and  women  are  devoting  their 
lives  to  help  banish  a  little  of  the  world's  wretchedness, 
and  make  it  a  happier  world  for  us  all.  These  men  and 
women  received  their  inspiration  chiefly  from  that  portrait 
of  Jesus  which  we  owe  to  the  great  and  tender-hearted 
Luke. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

MESSAGES   OF  ENCOURAGEMENT  FOR 
PERSECUTED   CHRISTIANS 

I  Peter  (64  A.D.),  Hebrews  (about  80  A.D.),  and  Revelation  (about 

95  A.D.) 

Christianity  Forbidden  by  the  Roman  Goveknment 

In  the  preceding  chapter  we  saw  that  one  of  Liike's 
aims  in  writing  the  Book  of  Acts  was  to  win  the  good 
will  of  intelligent  Romans  for  the  Christian  religion. 
In  the  early  years  of  Christian  history  the  disciples  had 
little  to  fear  from  the  regular  officials  of  the  Roman 
government.  There  was  indeed  much  persecution: 
Stephen  was  stoned;  James  was  put  to  death  by  King 
Herod  Agrippa,  ''to  please  the  Jews."  Paul  says  of  his 
own  career,  ''five  times  received  I  forty  stripes  save  one. 
Thrice  was  I  beaten  with  rods,  once  I  was  stoned." 
These  early  persecutions,  however,  were  usually  caused 
by  hostile  mobs,  instigated  by  Jews,  or  by  others  who  for 
special  reasons  hated  the  Christians.  Paiil  was  frequently 
protected  from  these  attacks  by  Roman  governors.  He 
always  stoutly  insisted  that  these  Tulers  were  ordained 
of  God  for  the  pimishment  of  evil  doers.  Under  the 
wicked  emperor  Nero,  however,  the  government  itself 
turned  against  the  Christians.  This  came  about  as 
follows.  In  the  Spring  of  64  A.D.,  the  city  of  Rome  was 
devastated  by  a  terrible  conflagration.  A  rumor  was 
circulated  that  Nero  himself,  had  started  the  fire.  The 
rumor  was  probably  false;  nevertheless  to  placate  the 
fury  of  the  people,  Nero  found  it  necessary  to  find  some 
one  else  on  whom  he  could  lay  the  blame.  It  was  perhaps 
his  beautiful  but  unscrupulous  queen  Poppaea  who 
suggested  the  Christians.  She  was  a  Jewess  and  shared 
the  special  prejudices  of  her  people  against  the  Christians. 

49 


50  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

From  Nero's  standpoint,  it  was  a  happy  thought.  The 
Christians  were  already  unpopular.  To  the  average 
Roman,  the  name  Christian  meant  much  the  same  thing 
as  the  term  ''anarchist"  does  in  these  days.  Hence 
when  Nero  said,  ''the  Christians  did  it,"  the  people  ac- 
cepted the  suggestion,  and  clamored  for  vengeance. 
The  Roman  historian  Tacitus  gives  an  account  of 
what  followed.  "First  those  who  confessed  were 
arrested;  then  on  their  information  a  great  multitude 
was  convicted,  not  so  much  of  the  crime  of  incendiarism 
as  of  hatred  of  the  human  race.  In  their  death  they 
were  made  the  subjects  of  sport,  for  they  were  covered 
with  the  hides  of  wild  beasts  and  worried  to  death  by 
dogs,  or  nailed  to  crosses  or  set  fire  to,  and  after  dark 
were  burned  for  evening  lights.  Nero  had  offered  his 
own  gardens  for  this  exhibition,  and  also  exhibited  a 
game  at  the  circus,  sometimes  mingling  in  the  crowd  in 
the  dress  of  a  charioteer,  sometimes  standing  in  his 
chariot.  Consequently  there  arose  a  feeling  of  compas- 
sion towards  the  sufferers,  although  they  were  guilty; 
for  they  seemed  to  be  cut  off  not  for  the  public  good,  but 
rather  as  victims  of  the  ferocity  of  one  man."  Tacitus 
says  nothing  about  any  persecution  of  the  Christians 
outside  the  city  of  Rome  itself;  but  the  wave  of  persecu- 
tion, which  was  set  in  motion  in  Rome,  must  have  spread 
quickly  to  many  provinces.  From  this  time  on,  whenever 
in  any  community  the  feeling  against  them  became  bitter, 
their  enemies  had  only  to  report  their  names  to  the  Roman 
officials  and  they  would  be  arrested  and  perhaps  put  to 
death.  Of  course  in  some  places,  they  were  unmolested 
for  long  periods  of  time.  In  rare  cases,  whole  communities 
might  be  so  largely  Christianized  that  the  church  officials 
would  be  the  leading  men  in  the  village.  For  the  most 
part,  however,  the  lot  of  the  Christians  grew  more  and 
more  painful.  The  Emperor  Domitian,  who  reigned 
from  81  A.D.  to  96  A.D.,  was  particularly  hostile  to  the 
Christians.  In  his  personal  disposition,  he  was  vain 
and  jealous,  and  he  insisted  that  sacrifices  should  be  offered 
to  his  image  in  every  province.     This  blasphemy  shocked 


^ 


MESSAGES  FOR  PERSECUTED  CHRISTIANS     51 

and  horrified  the  Christians  more  than  anything  that  had 
previously  happened. 

Peter's  Letter  to  Persecuted  Christians  in  Asia 

Minor 

Two  or  three  years  before  the  persecution  under 
Nero  began,  the  Apostle  Peter  had  come  to  Rome. 
Possibly  he  came  at  the  request  of  Paul.  Or  he  may  have 
come  as  the  representative  of  the  church  in  Jerusalem, 
to  assure  the  heroic  old  missionary  of  their  sympathy 
with  him  in  his  imprisonment.  It  is  quite  certain,  at 
any  rate,  that  Peter  and  Paul  were  associated  together 
for  a  short  time  in  the  city  of  Rome.  Of  the  two  men, 
Paul  seems  to  have  been  put  to  death  first,  after  which 
Peter  gathered  Paul's  helpers  about  him,  and  became  the 
leader  of  the  Christians.  There  is  an  old  tradition  that 
when  the  terrible  days  of  persecution  began,  the  Chris- 
tians begged  Peter  to  flee  to  some  safe  retreat,  and  that 
he  finally  yielded  to  their  arguments.  Just  outside  the 
city,  however,  the  Lord  Jesus  met  him.  FalHng  on  his 
face,  the  old  apostle  cried  out,  ''Quo  vadis,  Domine?" 
(Whither  goest  thou.  Master)  and  the  Master  replied, 
"If  thou  desert  my  people,  I  am  going  to  Rome  to  be 
crucified  a  second  time."  So  Peter  returned  to  the  city. 
In  this  tradition  there  is  at  least  this  much  of  truth,  that 
Peter  did  remain  in  Rome,  with  his  fellow  disciples, 
cheering  and  comforting  them,  amidst  agony  and  death, 
imtil  at  last  he  himself,  like  his  Master,  was  crucified. 

These  last  months  at  Rome  were  surely  the  crown 
of  Peter's  life.  How  tenderly  he  must  have  comforted 
those  whose  loved  ones  were  being  tortured  and  slain 
because  they  would  not  deny  Christ!  At  the  secret 
gatherings  of  the  Christians  how  he  thrilled  their  hearts, 
as  he  charged  them  to  be  faithful,  if  need  be,  even  unto 
death!  Fortunately  it  is  not  necessar}^  for  us  to  rely 
entirely  on  our  imaginations  in  this  matter.  We  probably 
have  a  letter  which  Peter  wrote  to  the  Christians  in  Asia 
Minor,  who  were  also  suffering  from  persecution.  In 
the  New  Testament  it  is  entitled  the  First  Epistle  of  Peter. 


52  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

This  letter  teaches  the  Christians  that  the  persecutions 
which  they  are  suffering  are  opportunities  for  the  develop- 
ment of  character.  Just  as  gold  is  refined  in  the  fire,  so 
through  persecution  they  may  become  more  like  Christ. 
''Beloved,  think  it  not  strange  concerning  the  fiery  trial 
among  you  which  cometh  upon  you  to  prove  you,  as 
though  a  strange  thing  happened  unto  you;  but  inasmuch 
as  ye  are  partakers  of  Christ's  sufferings,  rejoice.  .  .  .  For 
Christ  also  suffered  for  you,  leaving  you  an  example,  that 
ye  should  follow  in  his  steps;  who  did  no  sin,  neither  was 
guile  found  in  his  mouth ;  who  when  he  was  reviled,  reviled 
not  again;  when  he  suffered  threatened  not,  but  committed 
himself  unto  him  who  judgeth  righteously." 

This  letter  was  addressed  to  the  provinces  of  Pontus, 
Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Asia  and  Bithynia.  It  was  probably 
delivered  by  Silvanus,  Paul's  old  fellow-worker,  who  was 
now  with  Peter.  He  no  doubt  sailed  from  Rome,  to 
some  seaport  on  the  coast  of  Pontus  in  the  Black  Sea. 
Thence  he  made  a  circuit  of  the  above  named  provinces, 
carrying  the  letter  with  him  everywhere  and  bringing 
new  courage  and  hope  to  the  tempted,  the  fearful  and 
the  heartbroken,  in  every  Christian  community. 

Christianity  Worth  Suffering  For 

There  is  another  letter  in  the  New  Testament  which, 
like  I  Peter,  was  intended  to  encourage  Christians  to 
endure  persecution  bravely.  This  is  the  Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews.  Some  ten  or  fifteen  years  have  passed  since 
the  persecution  under  Nero.  The  Christians  in  Rome  and 
elsewhere  are  not  just  now  being  called  on  to  stiffer 
martyrdom.  But  day  by  day,  they  are  enduring  all 
kinds  of  minor  troubles  on  account  of  their  religion.  Old 
friends  will  not  speak  to  them.  They  are  publicly  insulted 
in  the  street.  Boys  shout  foul  names  at  them  in  the 
market  place.  They  cannot  find  work  to  do,  and  thus 
lose  money,  and  come  to  poverty.  In  some  ways  these 
daily  annoyances  and  trials  were  more  dangerous  to  the 
cause  of  Christ  than  fierce  and  bloody  outbreaks  like  that 
under  Nero.     Human  heroism  always  shines  out  most 


MESSAGES  FOR  PERSECUTED  CHRISTIANS     53 

nobly  in  a  short  and  sudden  crisis.  But  many  who  would 
gladly  have  died  for  Christ  gradually  lost  their  zeal  for 
Him,  as  year  after  year  brought  them  only  these  dis- 
heartening experiences. 

At  that  time  there  were  still  living  in  various  cities  of 
the  Empire  a  number  of  Paul's  old  helpers.  One  of 
them,  perhaps  Barnabas,  perhaps  Apollos,  or  perhaps  that 
noble  woman  Priscilla,  who  helped  Paul  in  Corinth  and 
Ephesus,  wrote  the  letter  which  we  call  the  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews.  It  is  more  like  a  sermon  than  an  ordinary 
epistle.  The  ''Hebrews"  to  whom  it  is  addressed  were 
probably  a  group  of  Jewish  Christians  living  in  the  city 
of  Rome.  The  main  idea  of  the  letter  is  the  glory  of  our 
religion.  Christianity,  we  are  told,  is  the  goal  to  which 
all  past  history  has  been  leading.  **God,  having  of  old 
time  spoken  unto  the  fathers  in  the  prophets,  .  .  .  hath 
at  the  end  of  these  days  spoken  unto  us  in  his  Son." 
Chapter  after  chapter  shows  how  everything  in  the  Old 
Testament  points  forward  to  Christ  and  His  Kingdom. 
We  are  the  heirs  of  all  past  ages;  surely  in  such  a  cause 
we  can  endure  a  little  suffering.  Only,  to  appreciate  these 
glories,  we  need  faith ;  that  is,  we  need  confidence  in  the 
reality  of  the  ''things  w^hich  are  not  seen,  but  are  eternal." 
It  was  through  faith  in  these  unseen  glories  that  the 
heroes  of  old  endured  their  trials  of  "mockings  and  scourg- 
ings,  yea,  moreover,  of  bonds  and  imprisonment:  w^ere 
stoned,  sawn  asunder,  slain  with  the  sword."  This 
section  on  faith,  chapters  eleven  and  twelve,  is  the  climax 
of  the  whole  letter.  "By  faith,  Abraham  went  out,  not 
knowing  whither  he  went.  .  .  .  By  faith,  Moses  forsook 
Egypt,  .  .  .  for  he  endured  as  seeing  him  who  is  invisible." 
Thus  the  writer  leads  us  down  through  Hebrew  history, 
to  the  final  conclusion :  ' '  Let  us  also,  seeing  we  are  com- 
passed about  with  so  great  a  cloud  of  witnesses,  lay  aside 
every  weight,  and  the  sin  which  doth  so  easily  beset  us, 
and  let  us  run  with  patience  the  race  that  is  set  before 
us,  looking  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  perfecter  of  faith, 
who  for  the  joy  that  was  set  before  him,  endured  the 


54  THE   STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

cross,  despising  shame,  and  hath  sat  down  at  the  right 
hand  of  the  throne  of  God." 

The  Book  of  Revelation:  Its  Characteristics 

The  next  period  of  especially  severe  persecution, 
occurred,  as  we  have  seen,  some  twenty  or  thirty  years 
after  Nero,  during  the  reign  of  Domitian.  At  a  gathering 
of  the  Christians  in  the  city  of  Ephesus,  during  this 
period,  one  of  the  members  drew  from  his  girdle  a  new 
book,  which  a  friend  had  sent  to  him  from  a  neighboring 
city.  At  this  particular  meeting  there  were  no  strangers 
present,  otherwise  the  book  would  never  have  been  shown. 
The  messenger  who  had  brought  it  to  Ephesus,  had  given 
this  urgent  injunction:  Keep  it  safely  hidden.  Do  not 
let  any  one  have  it  except  those  whom  you  can  trust. 
Above  all,  keep  it  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Romans.  This 
book  is  known  in  the  New  Testament,  as  Revelation. 
It  is  a  mysterious  book.  It  belongs  to  a  mysterious 
class  of  books,  called  "apocalypses."  In  the  story  of 
the  Old  Testament,  we  shall  find  another  apocalypse; 
the  Book  of  Daniel.  There  were  many  others,  both 
Jewish  and  Christian,  which  were  not  finally  included 
in  the  Bible.  They  were  all  written  in  times  of  oppression, 
and  religious  persecution,  and  express  the  indignation 
of  the  sufferers  and  the  hopes  in  which  they  found  comfort. 
They  all  predict  the  near  approach  of  the  Judgment  Day, 
when  the  persecutors  of  God's  people  will  be  condemned 
to  eternal  punishment.  They  were  all  written  in  mys- 
terious and  symbolic  language,  partly  no  doubt,  because 
it  would  have  been  unsafe  to  express  in  plain  language 
the  sentiments  and  expectations  which  they  contained. 
This  explains  why  that  Christian  in  Ephesus  was 
so  careful  to  let  no  one  see  this  new  apocalypse,  the  Book 
of  Revelation,  except  his  trusted  fellow  disciples. 

Where  did  this  strange  book  come  from?  We  cannot 
answer  with  certainty.  The  author  gives  his  name  as 
John;  but  whether  or  not  he  was  the  Apostle  John,  we 
do  not  know.  We  can  only  say  that  he  lived  somewhere 
in  Asia  Minor,  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Domitian. 


MESSAGES  FOR  PERSECUTED  CHRISTIANS     55 

Letters  from  Jesus:  Angels,  Beasts,  and  Trumpets 
The  first  three  chapters  of  Revelation  contain  a  series 
of  seven  letters,  one  to  the  Christians  in  each  of  seven 
cities  in  the  province  of  Asia.  Each  letter  represents 
what  the  writer  believed  the  living  Jesus  would  have 
said  to  each  church.  The  main  thought  in  all  these 
letters  is  the  same:  The  Lord  Jesus  knows  what  per- 
secutions you  are  enduring.  He  knows  your  triumphs 
and  your  sins.  He  bids  you  to  repent,  and  henceforth 
to  be  faithful,  even  unto  death.  '*To  him  that  over- 
cometh,"  Jesus  will  give  ''the  crown  of  life." 

Chapters  4-20  are  filled  w4th  mystical  visions  of  angels, 
and  trumpets,  and  beasts.  The  author  describes  himself 
as  taken  up  to  heaven,  and  there  beholding  **the  things 
which  must  come  to  pass  hereafter."  Many  of  these 
symbols  it  is  impossible  for  us  now  to  interpret.  The 
main  point  of  this  part  of  the  book,  however,  is  very 
clear.  The  end  of  the  world  is  at  hand.  Christ  is  coming 
to  overthrow  the  reign  of  Satan,  and  will  mete  out  terrible 
punishments  to  Satan's  representatives  on  earth,  that 
is  to  the  cruel  Romans.  After  this  will  come  the  millen- 
nium, that  is  a  period  of  a  thousand  years,  during  which 
Christ  Himself  will  reign  over  all  mankind.  . 

The  whole  section  breathes  a  spirit  of  burning  indigna- 
tion against  Rome.  The  city  of  Rome  is  regarded  as 
wholly  given  over  to  every  conceivable  villainy.  The 
word  Rome,  to  be  sure,  does  not  occur  anywhere  in  the 
book.  But  the  many  allusions  to  ''Babylon,"  are  to  be 
understood  as  referring  to  Rome.  In  the  Old  Testament, 
Babylon  was  a  synonym  for  wickedness;  and  the  early 
Christians  frequently  spoke  of  Rome  as  the  Babylon  of 
their  own  day.  The  following  passages  from  Revelation 
illustrate  the  writer's  hatred  of  Rome.  "  I  saw  a  woman 
sitting  upon  a  scarlet-colored  beast,  full  of  names  of 
blasphemy,  having  seven  heads  and  ten  horns."  (The 
woman  and  the  beast  both  represent  Rome.  The  ten 
horns  represent  the  ten  emperors,  from  Julius  Cassar  to 
Domitian.)  "And  the  woman  was  arrayed  in  purple  and 
scarlet  and  decked  with  gold  and  precious  stone  and  pearls, 


56  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

having  in  her  hand  a  golden  cup  full  of  abominations. 
And  upon  her  forehead  a  name  written,  MYSTERY, 
BABYLON  THE  GREAT.  And  I  saw  the  woman 
drunken  with  the  blood  of  the  saints  and  with  the  blood 
of  the  martyrs  of  Jesus.  .  .  .  The  seven  heads  are  the 
seven  mountains  on  which  the  woman  sitteth. "     (17 :  3-9.) 

In  one  of  these  passages,  which  describe  the  wickedness 
of  Rome,  there  seems  to  be  a  hidden  reference  to  Nero 
himself,  the  first  persecutor  and  the  most  cruel  persecutor 
of  all  the  emperors.  ''Here  is  wisdom.  He  that  hath 
understanding,  let  him  count  the  number  of  the  beast; 
for  it  is  the  number  of  a  man ;  and  his  number  is  six  hun- 
dred and  sixty  and  six."  (Rev.  13:18).  The  ancient 
Greeks  and  Hebrews  used  the  letters  of  their  respective 
alphabets,  to  stand  for  numbers.  Now  if  the  words 
Nero  Caesar,  are  written  in  Hebrew,  and  the  letters  are 
read  as  numerals,  they  make  the  sum  of  666. 

It  is  easy  to  see  why  such  a  book  was  written  in  this 
obscure  and  symbolic  language;  and  why,  even  in  its 
symbolic  form,  a  Christian  might  well  have  dreaded 
being  taken  by  the  Roman  authorities  with  a  copy  of  it 
in  his  possession. 

A  Vision  of  Heaven 

The  last  two  chapters  in  the  book  (21-22),  are  in  the 
form  of  a  vision  of  the  Christian's  eternal  home  in  Heaven. 
The  writer  tells  of  the  beauty  of  this  eternal  city,  the  new 
Jerusalem;  of  its  pearly  gates;  and  golden  streets;  of 
the  river  of  life;  of  the  trees  whose  leaves  are  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations ;  and  in  the  midst  of  it  all,  the  throne 
of  God.  Of  course,  all  these  word-pictures  are  figures  of 
speech.  No  one  knows  what  kind  of  a  place  Heaven 
will  be.  But  these  figures  stand  for  certain  spiritual 
truths.  We  do  believe  that  in  that  future  world,  we 
will  know  our  friends,  and  that  we  will  Hve  in  closer 
fellowship  with  God.  These  beliefs  are  expressed  more 
beautifully  in  the  poetical  language  of  Revelation,  than 
anywhere  else.  When  those  early  Christians  lay  in 
prison  awaiting  the  day  of  execution ;  when  they  thought 


MESSAGES  FOR  PERSECUTED  CHRISTIANS      57 

of  the  dear  ones  they  must  leave  behind;  when  they 
thought  of  the  shame  and  the  torture  which  would  be 
inflicted  upon  them  amidst  the  cruel  jeers  of  the  multitude, 
then  they  would  remember  this  book.  All  their  copies 
no  doubt  lay  hidden  in  secret  hiding  places,  but  they 
could  repeat  together  such  words  as  these:  ''And  I  heard 
a  voice  out  the  throne,  saying,  Behold  the  tabernacle 
of  God  is  with  men,  and  he  shall  dwell  with  them,  and 
be  their  God;  and  he  shall  wipe  away  every  tear  from 
their  eyes;  and  death  shall  be  no  more;  neither  shall 
there  be  mourning,  nor  crying,  nor  pain  any  more;  the 
first  things  are  passed  away.  He  that  overcometh  shall 
inherit  these  things;  and  I  will  be  his  God,  and  he  shall 
be  my  son."  It  was  in  part  through  the  inspiration  of 
these  great  and  splendid  promises  that  the  Christians 
were  enabled  to  go  so  bravely  and  smilingly  to  meet  the 
sword,  and  the  cross,  and  the  flames. 


CHAPTER  IX 
WHAT  IS  TRUE  CHRISTIANITY? 
The  General  Epistles 

(Written  about  80-100  A.D.) 

What  New  Testament  Books  are  Called  General 

Epistles? 
The  term  General  Epistles  is  usually  applied  to  the 
following  New  Testament  books :  James,  I  and  II  Peter, 
I,  II,  and  III  John,  and  Jude.  They  are  called  "general 
epistles,"  because  they  were  not  addressed  to  any  particu- 
lar individual  or  church,  but  were  intended  for  general 
circulation  among  the  Christians.  I  Peter  we  have 
already  discussed  in  Chapter  8.  It  is  not  strictly  a 
general  epistle,  as  it  was  intended  especially  for  the 
Christians  in  one  particular  region,  Asia  Minor. 

Misinterpretations  of  Paul's  Letters 
Most  of  these  general  epistles  were  written  during  the 
last  ten  or  twenty  years  of  the  first  century,  A.D.  Nearly 
all  of  the  apostles  had  by  this  time  passed  away.  At 
such  a  time  the  Christians  naturally  turned  for  guidance, 
to  the  writings  which  the  apostles  and  earlier  leaders 
had  left  behind  them.  Every  church  tried  to  secure  a 
collection  of  Paul's  letters,  and  if  possible  a  copy  of  one 
or  more  of  the  Gospels.  These  writings  were  eagerly 
studied,  and  were  sometimes  misunderstood.  New  and 
strange  ideas  thus  sprang  up  regarding  the  nature  of 
the  Christian  life.  It  was  especially  easy  to  misinterpret 
the  teachings  of  Paul;  for  his  sentences  are  sometimes 
long  and  obscure,  and  hard  to  understand. 
Mistaken  Ideas  about  Faith 
Paul  had  laid  great  stress  upon  faith  as  the  essential 
characteristic  of  a  disciple  of  Christ.     * '  We  walk  by  faith. ' ' 

58 


WHAT   IS  TRUE   CHRISTIANITY  59 

**We  are  justified  by  faith,  not  by  works  of  the  law." 
(See  Chapter  2.)  He  meant  that  no  one  can  be  saved 
from  sin  by  a  merely  superficial  reformation.  The  whole 
disposition  must  be  changed;  the  heart  must  be  turned 
toward  Christ.  If  any  person  will  thus  keep  his  heart 
turned  toward  Christ,  or  in  other  words,  have  faith  in 
the  aims,  the  spirit,  and  the  friendship  of  Jesus,  he  wiU 
as  a  natural  result  become  Christ  like. 

Rightly  understood,  this'  idea  of  Paul  is  profoimdly 
true,  and  one  of  the  most  inspiring  truths  in  all  the  Bible. 
But  at  the  time  of  which  we  are  speaking,  there  were 
certain  shallow  minded  persons  who  claimed  to  be  saved 
by  faith,  but  whose  ''works"  were  not  at  all  of  the  sort 
that  faith  ought  to  produce.  They  gossiped  about  their 
neighbors ;  they  were  jealous  of  the  honors  paid  to  others. 
In  the  presence  of  important  church  officers,  their 
language  would  be  exceedingly  pious,  but  with  children 
or  servants,  or  poor  people,  their  angry  passions  were 
unrestrained.  They  also  showed  partiality  in  their 
church  gatherings,  toward  rich  people.  If  a  man  came 
in  with  a  gold  ring,  and  wearing  fine  clothing,  they  said 
to  him,  "Sit  here  in  a  good  place."  But  they  would  say 
to  a  poor  man,  ''Stand  over  there,  or  sit  here  under  my 
footstool." 

Plain  Words  about  Christian  Conduct 
The  Epistle  of  James 

About  this  time,  there  lived  in  some  community  of 
Christians,  a  certain  teacher  named  James,  who  saw 
clearly  the  hypocrisy  of  this  kind  of  faith.  James  was 
a  plain  spoken,  practical  sort  of  a  man,  and  gifted  with 
a  certain  homely  eloquence.  He  finally  expressed  his 
indignation,  in  the  Epistle  which  bears  his  name. 
Through  this  letter  or  tract,  James  sought  to  give  his 
fellow  Christians  some  common  sense  advice  regarding 
everyday  life.  He  warns  against  sins  of  the  tongue. 
He  rebukes  partiality  to  the  rich,  and  shows  his  deep 
sympathy  for  the  poor  and  oppressed.  Above  all,  he 
scornfully  denounces  those   Christians  who  boasted  of 


60  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

having  faith,  but  who  did  not  manifest  this  faith  in  actual 
deeds.  "If  a  brother  or  a  sister  be  in  rags,"  says  James, 
**and  in  lack  of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  to  them, 
*Go  in  peace,  be  ye  warmed  and  filled;'  and  yet  ye  give 
them  not  the  things  needful  for  the  body;  what  doth  it 
profit?  Even  so,  faith,  if  it  have  not  works,  is  dead." 
Evidently,  to  James,  the  most  essential  thing  in  the 
Christian  life  was  *' works."  Nothing  less  substantial 
would  answer.  ''Pure  religion,  and  undefiled,  before 
our  God  and  Father,"  he  says,  **is  this,  to  visit  the  father- 
less and  widows  in  their  affliction,  and  to  keep  himself 
unspotted  from  the  world." 

False  Teachings  about  Freedom;  Opposed  by  Jude 
AND  II  Peter 

There  were  other  so-called  Christians  at  this  time,  who 
misinterpreted  Paul's  idea  of  freedom.  Paul  had  written, 
''for  freedom  hath  Christ  set  us  free."  That  is,  a  Chris- 
tian does  right,  not  because  he  is  compelled,  but  because 
he  wants  to  do  right.  (Gal.  5: 1.)  But  these  men  who 
claimed  to  be  followers  of  Paul,  taught  that  when  a  person 
has  once  become  a  Christian,  he  is  free  to  follow  any 
impulse  which  may  enter  his  mind,  without  the  slightest 
restraint.  Their  daily  lives  were  even  worse  than  the 
lives  of  the  hypocrites  whom  James  rebuked;  and  they 
actually  quoted  sayings  of  Paul,  to  justify  their  indulgence 
in  all  sorts  of  intemperate  and  licentious  acts. 

We  have  in  the  New  Testament  two  letters  or  tracts, 
which  were  aimed  at  these  false  preachers  of  freedom. 
One  is  the  Httle  tract  known  as  the  Epistle  of  Jude. 
Who  this  Jude  was,  or  where  he  lived,  we  do  not  know. 
But  he  had  been  deeply  stirred  and  shocked  by  these 
wicked  and  dangerous  teachings.  "Woe  imto  them," 
he  says,  of  these  men,  "for  they  went  in  the  way  of  Cain. 
They  are  clouds  without  water,  carried  along  by  winds; 
autumn  trees  without  fruit,  twice  dead,  plucked  up  by 
the  roots;  wild  waves  of  the  sea,  foaming  out  their  own 
shame ;  wandering  stars,  for  whom  the  blackness  of  dark- 
ness hath  been  reserved  forever." 


WHAT   IS   TRUE   CHRISTIANITY  61 

The  other  tract  against  these  men  is  known  as  II  Peter. 
It  is  quite  generally  believed  that  this  was  not  written 
by  Peter,  but  by  some  Christian  leader  who  lived  many 
years  after  Peter's  death.  It  was  common  in  those  days 
for  writers  to  publish  their  compositions  under  the 
name  of  some  great  man  of  old.  They  probably  did  this, 
not  with  the  intention  of  deceiving  any  one,  but  simply 
to  honor  the  memory  of  those  in  whose  name  they  wrote 
and  to  show  what  these  great  men  of  old  probably  w^ould 
have  said,  had  they  been  alive  in  later  times. 

The  purpose  of  the  author  of  II  Peter  was  the  same  as 
that  of  Jude,  namely  to  warn  against  these  outrageous 
misinterpreters  of  Paul.  In  Paul's  letters,  he  says,  are 
"some  things  hard  to  be  understood,  which  the  ignorant 
and  unstedfast  wrest,  as  they  do  also  the  other  scriptures, 
unto  their  own  destruction."  "Wherefore,  beloved," 
he  says,  "give  diligence  that  ye  may  be  found  .  .  .  with- 
out spot  and  blameless  in  the  sight  of  God." 

Loving  Our  Fellowmen 

There  was  another  type  of  false  teaching  which  was 
growing  up  at  this  period,  very  different  from  those 
described  above.  There  were  certain  persons  who  not 
only  abstained  from  intemperance  and  licentiousness, 
but  who  also  insisted  that  all  physical  pleasures  were 
sinful.  They  went  about  with  long  faces,  and  never 
joined  in  the  social  festivities  of  their  fellow  Christians. 
They  frequently  observed  fasts,  and  never  ate  meat  on 
any  occasion.  Moreover  they  insisted  that  no  one  could 
be  a  true  Christian,  or  have  any  true  knowledge  of  God, 
except  by  living  as  they  lived.  Because  of  this  claim  to 
a  special  knowledge  of  God,  the  name  "Gnostic"  was 
applied  to  them,  which  is  derived  from  the  Greek  word 
meaning  "know." 

Now  these  Gnostics  were  usually  good  men  at  heart; 
indeed  they  often  were  unusually  earnest  and  sincere. 
Nevertheless  their  mistaken  notions  regarding  the  real 
meaning  of  Christianity  had  a  tendency  to  spoil  their 
characters.     They    grew   proud   and    censorious.     They 


62  THE   STORY   OF   OUR   BIBLE 

criticized  harshly  all  who  did  not  fast  as  often  as  they 
did.  They  gradually  won  followers  and  produced  many 
church  quarrels  and  much  bitterness. 

These  Gnostics  were  perhaps  most  numerous  in  the 
province  of  Asia,  especially  in  the  vicinity  of  Ephesus. 
Now  there  lived  in  Ephesus  in  the  years  between  80  and 
100  A.D.,  the  author  of  the  New  Testament  writings 
known  as  the  Gospel  and  the  Epistles  of  John.  It  has 
generally  been  supposed  that  these  were  written  by  the 
Apostle  John.  In  none  of  these  writings,  however,  is 
the  author's  name  stated.  Whatever  the  name  may 
have  been,  the  man  himself  was  one  of  the  greatest 
leaders  in  the  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  Of  the 
three  Epistles  of  John,  the  second  and  third  are  merely 
short  notes,  on  less  important  matters.  But  in  the  tract 
known  as  the  First  Epistle,  he  opposes  the  doctrines  of 
the  Gnostics,  and  seeks  to  remedy  some  of  the  mischief 
which  they  had  caused.  The  main  point  of  the  tract, 
the  point  on  which  he  insists  again  and  again,  is  summed 
up  as  follows:  ''Every  one  that  loveth  .  .  .  knoweth 
God."  In  other  words,  the  true  way  to  know  God,  is  not 
by  observing  fasts,  but  by  loving  our  fellowmen.  The 
real  source  of  moral  evil,  is  not  physical  pleaure  which,  in 
moderation,  is  usually  harmless  and  innocent,  but  rather, 
an  unloving  and  selfish  spirit.  If  these  Gnostics,  there- 
fore, wish  to  show  themselves  specially  holy,  let  them 
cease  to  stir  up  anger  and  hatred  among  their  fellow 
Christians.  Let  them  be  kind  and  charitable.  In  short, 
the  writer  pleads  with  all  his  readers  to  cultivate  the 
spirit  of  love,  as  the  essence  of  the  Christian  life.  "Be- 
loved, let  us  love  one  another;  for  love  is  of  God.  Who- 
soever loveth  is  begotten  of  God,  and  knoweth  God. 
He  that  loveth  not,  knoweth  not  God,  for  God  is  love." 


CHAPTER  X 
A  SPIRITUAL  GOSPEL 

John's  Story  of  the  Life  of  Jesus 

(Written  about  100  A.  D.) 

The  Gospel  of  John:  When,  where,  and  by  whom 

WRITTEN? 

In  the  previous  chapter,  we  saw  that  the  Gospel  and 
Epistles  of  John  have  generally  been  regarded  as  the 
work  of  the  Apostle  John.  According  to  an  early  church 
tradition,  this  apostle  spent  the  closing  years  of  his  long 
life  in  the  city  of  Ephesus.  A  large  number  of  eminent 
scholars  have  confidence  in  the  accuracy  of  this  tradition 
and  believe  that  John,  the  son  of  Zebedee  was  the  author 
of  these  writings.  Many  other  scholars,  however,  believe 
that  they  were  not  written  by  John.  In  any  case  the 
story  of  the  experiences  which  led  the  author  to  write 
the  Gospel  would  be  much  the  same.  In  this  chapter, 
for  convenience  sake,  we  shall  refer  to  the  author  as 
John.  Whoever  he  was,  he  lived  in  the  city  of  Ephesus, 
about  100  A.D. 

The  Passing  of  the  Eye-Witnesses  of  Jesus 
Let  us  go  back  to  the  time  when  there  remained  very 
few  who  had  actually  seen  the  Lord  Jesus,  while  He  was 
on  earth.  Imagine  that  one  of  these  men  lived  in  your 
village.  Perhaps  he  was  not  one  of  the  Twelve  Apostles. 
Possibly  he  was  only  a  child  when  Jesus  lived.  Yet 
when  we  ask  him  "Did  you  really  see  Jesus?"  he  can 
answer,  "Yes,  I  saw  Him."  Perhaps  he  can  add,  "I 
felt  His  hand  upon  my  head,  when  my  mother  lifted  me 
up  for  His  blessing."  How  gladly  we  would  have  ques- 
tioned this  old  man  about  that  experience  so  long  ago. 
He  would  have  seemed  to  us  like  a  link  connecting  us 

63 


64  THE   STORY   OF   OUR   BIBLE 

with  Jesus.  But  the  time  came  at  last  when  this  man 
was  seen  no  more.  At  this  thought  there  settled  down 
upon  many  a  loyal  Christian  heart  a  sense  of  desolation. 
The  stream  of  time  seemed  to  be  sweeping  Jesus  away 
from  them.  Seemingly,  their  only  comfort  now,  was  to 
look  back  to  Him  and  dream  about  Him  as  we  do  in  our 
modern  song: 

"  I  think  when  I  read  that  sweet  story  of  old, 
When  Jesus  was  here  among  men, 
How  -he  took  little  children  like  lambs  to  His  fold 
I  should  like  to  have  been  with  Him  then." 

True  they  had  been  taught  that  Jesus  had  risen  from  the 
dead,  and  that  He  had  promised  to  be  with  them  ''always 
even  unto  the  end  of  the  world."  But  there  were  many 
to  whom  this  teaching  somehow  did  not  mean  very  much. 
The  real  Jesus  for  their  minds,  was  the  Jesus  who  had 
walked  with  His  disciples  in  bodily  form,  along  the  shores 
of  Galilee. 

There  was  another  reason  why  these  later  disciples 
no  longer  felt  that  Jesus  was  near  to  them.  We  have 
seen  that  the  earliest  disciples  had  believed  that  Jesus 
would  quickly  return,  to  judge  the  wicked,  and  establish 
His  heavenly  kingdom.  This  hope  was  one  of  their 
sweetest  joys.  Anyone  who  has  counted  the  days  before 
the  home  coming  of  some  dear  one,  can  understand  how 
the  dreams  of  those  Christian  disciples  were  centered 
on  one  thing,  the  coming  of  Jesus.  ''Jesus  is  coming 
soon.  Perhaps  He  will  come  tomorrow.  Come,  Lord 
Jesus."  This  expectation  helped  them  to  feel  that  Jesus 
was  near  and  real.  But  the  years  passed,  and  the  decades, 
and  Jesus  did  not  return  in  visible  form.  Gradually 
the  disciples  ceased  to  look  for  Him.  There  even  arose 
scoffers  who  ridiculed  the  idea  that  Jesus  would  ever 
return.  "Where  is  the  promise  of  His  coming?"  they 
asked.  Very  few  of  the  Christians  expected  Him  to  return 
in  their  own  life  time.  Thus,  just  as  the  earthly  Jesus 
seemed  to  them  to  be  vanishing  farther  and  farther  in  the 
distant  past,  so  the  returning  Jesus  was  now  disappearing 


A  SPIRITUAL  GOSPEL  65 

in  a  vague  and  indefinite  future.     They  were  in  danger 
of  losing  Jesus  altogether. 

A  Man  who  Discovered  the  Living  Jesus 

This  sense  of  loss  was  being  felt  very  keenly  by  many 
Christians  about  100  A.D.,  when  John  lived  in  Ephesus. 
There  was  a  time  when  he  himself  had  felt  it.  To  him, 
as  to  others,  at  such  times,  Jesus  was  only  a  wonderful 
historical  character  who  lived  long  ago.  Gradually, 
however,  there  came  to  him  a  strange  experience.  He 
somehow  became  aware  of  a  Presence,  walking  with  him 
day  by  day.  He  could  not  see  or  hear  this  Presence 
with  his  physical  senses  yet  it  was  as  real  to  him  as  the 
solid  earth  beneath  his  feet.  In  times  of  trial  and  tempta- 
tion, he  could  turn  to  that  Presence  and  receive  comfort 
and  strength.  In  moods  of  sadness  the  thought  of  that 
Presence  would  flash  into  his  mind,  like  the  sunshine 
breaking  through  the  clouds,  and  all  the  world  would 
again  be  bright.  Every  good  impulse  and  true  idea 
seemed  to  him  now  to  be  a  whisper  of  that  Presence. 
He  had  re-discovered  the  living  Jesus.  ''Jesus  is  alive." 
At  the  thought  his  heart  was  filled  with  happiness.  He 
could  not  but  proclaim  the  news  to  his  fellow  Christians; 
''Jesus  is  alive."  He  was  filled  with  a  new  enthusiasm 
for  preaching  the  Gospel  to  those  outside  the  church. 
He  had  a  message  for  them  which  was  worth  proclaiming; 
"Jesus  is  alive."  If  people  asked,  "How  do  you  know 
He  is  alive,"  he  did  not  merely  answer,  "The  apostles 
saw  Him  when  He  arose  from  the  dead."  He  simply 
said,  "I  myself  hold  fellowship  with  Him  day  by  day." 
The  great  fact  of  his  life  was  this  acquaintance,  through 
personal  experience,  with  the  ever-living  Christ. 

A  Gospel  of  the  Living  Christ 

In  order  to  bring  home  to  the  men  and  women  of  his 
own  time,  this  message  of  the  living  Christ,  John  wrote 
a  new  account  of  the  life  of  Jesus.  As  a  means  of  setting 
forth  this  truth,  the  Gospel  of  John  is  one  of  the  most 
original    and    extraordinary    books    ever    written.     The 


66  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

Christians  of  that  day  were  probably  not  expecting  a 
new  record  of  Jesus'  Hfe.  The  first  three  Gospels  con- 
tained all  the  most  important  facts.  But  the  thought 
came  to  John;  '*I  have  known  Jesus  personally,  all  these 
years,  just  as  truly  as  Peter  knew  Him  of  old.  He  has 
taught  me  many  new  and  wonderful  truths.  Why  not 
write  a  new  story  of  His  earthly  life,  and  write  it  in  such 
a  way  as  to  bring  out  these  new  truths  which  He  has  i 
revealed  to  me?" 

So  John  wrote  his  new  Gospel.  He  does  not  give 
us  many  new  facts  regarding  Jesus,  beyond  what  we 
find  in  the  older  Gospels.  But  he  re-tells  these  facts 
in  a  new  form,  bringing  out  more  clearly  what  they 
really  meant  in  the  light  of  his  acquaintance  with  the 
living  Jesus.  He  brings  out  this  new  meaning  partly 
through  allegorical  narratives.  An  allegory  is  a  story 
in  which  every  detail  symbolizes  some  deeper  spiritual 
truth,  as  in  Bunyan's  "  Pilgrim's  Progress."  John  finds 
these  deeper  allegorical  meanings  in  the  narratives  of 
the  miracles  of  Jesus.  For  example,  in  the  story  of  the 
feeding  of  the  multitudes,  the  loaves  represent  Jesus 
Himself,  who  is  **the  bread  of  God  which  cometh  down  out 
of  heaven  and  giveth  life  unto  the  world." 

Another  method  which  John  used  for  bringing  out  new 
meanings  in  the  old,  well-known  facts,  is  that  of  conversa- 
tions put  into  the  mouth  of  Jesus  Himself.  John  did  not 
mean  that  Jesus  actually  uttered  the  very  words  of  these 
conversations,  but  that  they  represent  the  spirit  of  His 
whole  life,  as  the  living  Jesus  had  revealed  it  to  him.  For 
example,  the  language  of  the  following  sentence  is  probably 
that  of  John:  "God  so  loved  the  world,  that  he  gave  his 
only  begotten  Son,  that  whosoever  believeth  on  him 
should  not  perish,  but  have  eternal  life."  (John  3: 16.) 
But  though  Jesus  Himself  probably  never  uttered  these 
exact  words,  they  are  nevertheless  a  perfect  summary  of 
the  inner  spirit  of  His  life.  There  were  a  number  of 
great  and  vital  religious  truths,  which  John  sought  to 
teach  by  means  of  these  methods.  We  shall  study  some 
of  them  in  the  next  chapter.     Chief  among  them,  howevef ,  • 


A  SPIRITUAL  GOSPEL  67 

is  the  message  of  the  living  Christ.  This  message  is 
indirectly  implied,  as  we  have  seen,  in  the  very  fact  that 
John  ventured  to  express  his  convictions  in  the  form  of  a 
Gospel  narrative.  From  the  first  chapter  to  the  last, 
we  are  constantly  made  to  feel  the  influence  of  that  Pres- 
ence, which  had  become  the  great  fact  of  John's  life. 

"Blessed  are  they  that  have  not  Seen,  and  yet 
HAVE  Believed  " 

This  message  about  the  living  Christ  is  also  set  forth 
not  merely  indirectly,  but  explicitly,  in  a  large  number  of 
passages.  It  is  the  meaning  of  the  words  in  the  story  of 
Jesus'  conversation  with  the  Samaritan  woman  at  Jacob's 
Well.  "Every  one  that  drinketh  of  this  water  shall  thirst 
again;  but  whosoever  drinketh  of  the  water  that  I  shall 
give  him,  shall  never  thirst ;  but  the  water  that  I  shall  give 
him  shall  become  in  him  a  well  of  water  springing  up 
into  eternal  life."  That  is,  fellowship  with  Jesus  satisfies 
our  deepest  needs;  nor  can  this  fellowship  between  Jesus 
and  His  disciples  ever  be  broken.  It  is  a  well  of  water 
"springing  up  into  eternal  life."  It  continues  through 
the  centuries.  The  same  message  is  expressed  in  the 
figure  of  bread,  "I  am  the  bread  of  life.  He  that  cometh 
to  me  shall  not  hunger,  and  he  that  believeth  in  me  shall 
never  thirst."  Again  in  the  farewell  discourse  to  His 
disciples  in  the  upper  room  (John  14-17),  Jesus  says,  "I 
will  not  leave  you  desolate;  I  will  come  to  you.  Yet  a 
little  while,  and  the  world  beholdeth  me  no  more;  but 
ye  behold  me;  because  I  live,  ye  shall  live  also."  (John 
14:18,  19.) 

The  message  is  presented  even  more  directly  to  the 
Christians  of  later  generations  in  the  story  of  doubting 
Thomas  (John  20:24-39).  This  disciple  had  said 
that  he  would  not  believe  in  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus, 
unless  he  could  "put  his  finger  into  the  print  of  the 
nails,"  with  which  Jesus  had  been  crucified.  After- 
ward Jesus  appeared  to  Thomas  with  the  other  disciples 
and  Thomas  said  to  Him,  "my  Lord  and  my  God." 
Jesus  answered,  "Because  thou  has  seen  me,  thou  hast 


68  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

believed;  blessed  are  they  who  have  not  seen  and  yet 
have  believed."  This  is  a  direct  and  tender  appeal  to 
the  men  and  women  of  John's  own  time.  They  found  it 
hard  to  believe  that  the  living  Jesus  was  present  with 
them,  because  they  could  not  see  Him  or  touch  Him, 
as  could  the  earlier  disciples.  ''It  is  indeed  harder  to 
believe  in  Me  now,"  says  the  living  Jesus  who  speaks 
through  the  Gospel  of  John.  ''But  if  you  will  only  over- 
come your  unbelief,  and  will  talk  with  Me  in  prayer  just 
as  though  you  could  see  Me  and  hear  Me,  with  your 
physical  eyes  and  ears,  you  will  indeed  come  to  know  Me, 
and  will  know  Me  even  better  than  those  who  only  saw 
Me  in  the  flesh." 

Through  this  message  of  the  Hving  Christ,  John  also 
solved  the  difficulty  of  the  promised  return  of  Jesus. 
To  those  who  asked  '*when  will  this  promise  be  fulfilled^ 
when  will  Jesus  return  to  judge  the  wicked,  and  reward 
his  disciples,"  John  replied,  "Jesus  has  returned.  The 
judgment  is  taking  place  all  the  time.  Whenever  a  man 
has  the  opportunity  to  believe  in  Jesus,  but  chooses  dark- 
ness rather  than  light,  he  thereby  judges  himself.  This 
is  the  judgment,  that  the  light  is  come  unto  the  world,  and 
men  loved  the  darkness  rather  than  the  Hght."  Nor 
will  Jesus  ever  be  any  nearer  to  His  disciples  than  He 
is  today,  if  they  will  only  recognize  His  presence.  "Some 
of  the  disciples  therefore  said  one  to  another.  What  is 
this  that  He  saith  to  us.  A  little  while  and  ye  behold 
Me  not;  and  again  a  little  while  and  ye  shall  see  Me? 
We  know  not  what  He  saith."  (John  16: 17-18).  ^  These 
disciples  in  this  passage  represent  those  Christians  in 
John's  own  time  who  could  not  understand  what  Jesus 
had  meant  by  His  promise  to  return  in  a  very  short  time 
to  His  people.  And  the  answer  of  the  Hving  Jesus,  as 
it  had  been  revealed  to  John,  is  as  follows:  "Verily, 
verily,  I  say  unto  you,  ye  shall  be  sorrowful,  but  your 
sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy.  .  .  .  Ye  therefore  now  have 
sorrow;  but  your  sorrow  shall  be  turned  into  joy,  and  your 
joy  no  one  taketh  away  from  you. ' '  In  other  words,  when 
Jesus  was  crucified,  the  disciples  were  sorrowfi4.     But  in 


Property  of  the  Metropolitan  Museum  of  Art. 

AMONG  THE  LO\YLY. 
From  a  painting  by  L'hermitte. 


A  SPIRITUAL  GOSPEL  69 

the  joy  of  the  Resurrection  morning,  Jesus  returned  to 
them  never  again  to  depart. 

It  is  this  message  of  the  Hving  Jesus  which  has  given 
John's  Gospel  its  wonderful  influence  in  all  subsequent 
ages.  Its  author  understood  perfectly  the  doubts  and 
perplexities  of  those  who  must  "walk  by  faith  and  not 
by  sight,"  and  he  has  helped  the  Christians  of  each  new 
generation  to  discover  Jesus  for  themselves,  as  their 
personal  Saviour  and  Friend. 


CHAPTER  XI 
JESUS  THE  DIVINE  SAVIOUR 

The  Gospel  of  John 

(Written  about  100  A.  D.) 

Arguments  of  the  Jews  against  the  Christians 
In  order  to  gain  some  further  information  regarding 
the  circumstances  which  led  John  to  write  his  Gospel, 
let  us  visit  in  imagination  the  Jewish  synagogue  in  the 
city  of  Ephesus,  on  a  Sabbath  morning  in  the  year  100 
A.D.  The  services  are  conducted  in  the  Greek  language 
and  in  the  rear  seats  there  are  a  number  of  Gentiles  who 
have  been  drawn  to  the  meeting  by  curiosity,  or  by  a  real 
interest  in  this  religion  of  one  unseen  God.  On  another 
street,  not  far  away,  there  is  a  house  where  the  Christians 
in  that  part  of  the  city  are  accustomed  to  meet.  Many 
of  these  Greeks  who  are  sitting  here  in  this  synagogue 
this  morning,  have  likewise  attended  the  meetings  of  the 
Christians.  Some  of  the  Jews  also  have  secretly  visited 
the  Christians.  This  explains  the  character  of  the 
rabbi's  sermon.  After  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures, 
he  begins  his  exposition.  The  whole  address  is  an  attack 
on  the  Christians.  "I  hear  that  some  of  you  have  been 
attending  the  meetings  of  the  Christians,"  he  says.  *'Do 
not  be  deceived  by  their  false  teachings.  They  say  that 
Jesus  was  both  God  and  man,  and  they  worship  him  as 
equal  with  God.  That  is  blasphemy.  What  says  the 
Law?  'Hear  O  Israel,  Jehovah  our  God  is  one,'  and, 
*Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me.'  Moreover, 
the  facts  show  that  Jesus  was  a  mere  man,  and  not  at  all 
what  the  Christians  claim.  At  first  he  never  pretended 
to  be  anything  but  a  disciple  of  John  the  Baptist;  indeed 
John  was  a  much  greater  prophet  than  he.  It  was  really 
John  who  originated  the  custom  of  baptism,  and  the 

70 


JESUS  THE   DIVINE   SAVIOUR  71 

Christians  have  merely  adopted  it.  As  for  the  miracles 
which  they  say  he  performed,  how  do  we  know  these 
stories  are  true  ?  We  all  know  how  easily  ignorant  people 
are  deluded ;  and  all  his  disciples  were  uneducated  laborers, 
fishermen  and  the  like.  None  of  the  educated  men  of 
Jerusalem  ever  believed  in  him.  In  fact  he  never  came 
to  Jerusalem  until  the  last  week  of  his  life.  He  spent 
his  time  in  the  obscure  out-of-the-way  province  of  Galilee. 
If  he  was  indeed  the  Messiah,  and  equal  with  God,  why 
did  he  not  go  to  Jerusalem  at  the  very  outset,  and  present 
his  claims  before  the  Sanhedrin,  and  the  other  learned 
rabbis  there?  Another  thing;  if  Jesus  was  God,  how  is 
it  that  he  did  not  know  that  one  of  his  own  disciples  was 
a  traitor?  Finally,  if  he  was  God,  why  could  he  not  save 
himself  from  being  put  to  death  on  the  cross?  You  see 
how  preposterous  these  Christian  teachings  are.  Do  not 
be  deceived  by  them.  The  true  religion,  is  the  old  religion 
of  Israel.  Christianity  is  merely  an  imitation  and  a 
coimterfeit." 

How  THIS  Opposition  Hurt  the  Christians 

Such  anti-Christian  attacks  as  these  seem  to  have  been 
very  common  in  the  Jewish  synagogues  of  those  days. 
Naturally,  the  Christians  heard  about  them.  They 
continually  ran  across  these  arguments,  in  talking  with 
non-Christians.  Many  a  time  they  would  be  nearly 
successful  in  winning  some  young  Greek  to  belief  in  Jesus, 
when  suddenly  they  would  find  his  respectful  interest 
changed  to  scorn.  "You  should  have  heard  the  rabbi 
yesterday,"  he  would  say  to  them.  *'He  proves  that 
your  Christianity  is  either  a  delusion  or  a  fraud."  Thus 
they  were  constantly  hindered  in  their  missionary  work. 
Moreover,  manv  of  the  Christians  themselves  were  be- 
wildered by  the  arguments  of  the  Jews.  They  were 
unable  to  answer  all  of  them,  and  their  minds  were  filled 
with  doubts,  and  their  hearts  with  sadness.  For  the  main 
point  of  all  these  arguments  was  that  Jesus  was  not  divine ; 
but  to  these  early  Christians,  the  one  great  motive  of 
their  religion,   the  motive  which  had  given  them  new 


72  THE   STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

power  to  conquer  sin  and  live  righteously,  was  love  for 
Jesus  as  their  divine  Saviour.  It  was  the  thought  of  this 
divine  man  of  Galilee  which  had  touched  their  hearts  to 
the  very  depths,  and  had  lifted  them  out  of  degradation 
into  Hves  of  purity  and  love.  Before  they  had  heard  of 
Jesus,  many  of  them  indeed  had  beHeved  in  God.  But 
they  had  had  only  a  very  hazy  idea  as  to  the  character 
of  God,  and  they  had  felt  towards  Him,  only  a  vague  fear 
and  awe.  But  this  God  in  human  form,  who  healed  the 
sick,  and  pitied  the  sinful,  and  blessed  the  children,  and 
died  on  the  cross  for  the  sins  of  others,  .  .  .  this  God  could 
win  their  deepest  love,  and  transform  their  whole  char- 
acters. Now  if  Jesus  after  all,  were  only  a  man  like  other 
men!  At  the  thought  the  very  sunHght  seemed  to  fade 
out  of  the  sky!  Life  was  no  longer  worth  hving  if  this 
story  of  Jesus  after  all  was  only  a  sweet  dream. 

How  John  Answered  the  Arguments  of  the  Jews 
''These  signs  are  written,  that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus 
is  the  Christ  the  Son  of  God;  and  that  believing  ye  may  have 
life  in  his  name:'  (John  20:30-31.)  In  these  closing 
words,  John  states  clearly  one  of  the  main  purposes  of  his 
Gospel.  He  planned  to  answer  the  arguments  of  the 
Jews,  and  to  tell  the  story  of  Jesus'  life  in  such  a  way 
that  no  fair-minded  reader  could  fail  to  believe  in  Him  as 
divine,  and  beUeving,  "have  life  in  his  name."  Thus  in 
answer  to  the  argument  that  Jesus  carried  on  his  work 
almost  entirely  in  Galilee,  John  tells  of  many  visits  to 
Jerusalem  which  are  not  mentioned  in  the  earUer  Gospels. 
In  answer  to  the  statement  that  Jesus  was  at  first  only 
a  disciple  of  John  the  Baptist,  this  Gospel  brings  out 
very  emphatically  that  John  regarded  Jesus  as  "one 
greater  than  I."  "He  must  increase;  I  must  decrease." 
In  answer  to  the  charge  that  no  educated  men  had  believed 
in  Jesus,  John  tells  about  Nicodemus,  "the  ruler  of  the 
Jews,"  who  came  to  Jesus  by  night;  and  John  declares 
that  there  were  many  others  among  the  rabbis  who  like 
Nicodemus  were  secret  disciples  of  Jesus.  They  were 
afraid  to  let  it  be  known,  however,  lest  their  associates 


JESUS  THE   DIVINE  SAVIOUR  73 

might  persecute  them.  The  main  argument  of  the  Jews, 
however,  was  that  the  Christians  were  ascribing  to  a 
human  being,  honors  which  rightly  belonged  only  to  the 
one  true  God,  the  Maker  of  Heaven  and  Earth.  They 
were  worshipping  Jesus  as  equal  with  God,  and  this  was 
blasphemy.  In  answer  to  this,  John  tells  very  fully 
just  what  Jesus  taught  regarding  Himself.  He  shows 
that  Jesus  never  claimed  to  be  equal  with  God,  except 
as  a  representative  of  a  king  is  entitled  to  all  the  honors 
which  are  due  to  the  king  who  sent  him.  Jesus  was 
divine,  in  the  sense  that  He  was  the  one  supreme  Mediator 
between  God  and  man.  All  his  powers  however  were 
from  God,  who  dwelt  in  Him,  and  spoke  through  Him. 
''The  Son  can  do  nothing  of  himself,  but  what  he  seeth 
the  Father  doing."  (5: 19.)  ''I  can  of  myself  do  nothing; 
as  I  hear,  I  judge."  (5:  30.)  **My  teaching  is  not  mine 
but  His  that  sent  me. "  (7:16.)  '  *  I  do  nothing  of  myself, 
but  as  the  Father  taught  me,  I  speak  these  things.  And 
He  that  sent  me  is  with  me;  He  hath  not  left  me  alone; 
for  I  do  always  the  things  that  are  pleasing  to  Him." 
(8:28-29.) 

In  this  sense  of  the  word,  indeed,  all  good  men  may  be 
said  to  be  divine.  That  is,  God  dwells  in  them,  and  speaks 
through  them,  and  they  are  to  some  extent  mediators 
between  God  and  men.  This  is  suggested  in  John's 
quotation  from  the  eighty-second  Psalm:  ''I  said.  Ye 
are  Gods."  (John  10:  34-35.)  The  Psalmist  was  speak- 
ing of  the  judges  and  rulers  of  his  day,  and  he  meant  that 
to  the  people  they  stood  in  the  place  of  God,  represented 
God.  But  Jesus  represented  God  as  no  other  human 
being  ever  had  done,  or  ever  can ;  for  His  life  was  absolutely 
sinless,  inexpressibly  perfect.  Hence  in  Him  we  see  a 
perfect  picture  of  the  character  of  God.  God  is  just  like 
Jesus  Christ:  a  just  judge,  a  tender  Saviour,  a  loving 
Friend.  As  the  perfect  representative  of  God,  Jesus  is 
therefore  the  Light  of  the  world.  John  believed  that 
He  'Vas  in  the  beginning  with  God."  The  true  way  to 
honor  God,  then,  is  to  believe  in  Jesus,  and  worship  Him. 


74  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

For,  ''he  that  honoreth  not  the  Son,  honoreth  not  the 
Father  that  sent  Him." 

Proofs  of  the  Divinity  of  Jesus 

Some  might  still  object,  how  can  you  prove  that  Jesus 
was  in  truth  the  supreme  Mediator  between  God  and  man. 
John  brings  forward  in  his  Gospel  a  number  of  proofs. 
He  appeals  to  John  the  Baptist.  ''There  came  a  man 
sent  from  God  whose  name  was  John.  He  was  not  the 
light  (of  the  world),  but  he  came  to  bear  witness  of  the 
light."  The  Gospel  also  appeals  to  the  Old  Testament 
prophecies  of  Christ.  "If  ye  believed  Moses,  ye  would 
believe  me,  for  he  wrote  of  me.  But  if  ye  believe  not  his 
writings  how  shall  ye  beheve  my  words." 

But  there  is  one  final  argument  which  to  John  is  worth 
more  than  all  the  others,  and  that  is  the  argument  from 
his  own  experience,  and  the  experience  of  his  fellow  Chris- 
tians. "We  know  that  Jesus  is  the  divine  Saviour," 
he  says,  in  substance,  "because  through  Him  we  have 
been  saved."  It  is  this  testimony  from  personal  ex- 
perience which  John  puts  in  the  mouth  of  Peter  in  his 
account  of  the  crisis  at  Capernaum.  "Upon  this  many 
of  his  disciples  went  back  and  walked  no  more  with  him. 
Jesus  said  therefore  unto  the  twelve.  Would  ye  also  go 
away?  Simon  Peter  answered  him.  Lord,  to  whom  shall 
we  go?  thou  hast  the  words  of  eternal  life."  Peter  and 
his  fellow  disciples  had  been  lifted  into  a  new  life  of  faith 
and  love  and  self-forgetfulness  through  the  inspiration  of 
the  words  of  Jesus.  This  same  experience  had  come  to 
the  later  disciples  of  John's  time,  through  reading  Jesus' 
words,  or  hearing  them  repeated.  Jesus  had  done  for 
them  what  no  other  man  had  done,  or  could  do.  They 
knew  from  experience  that  in  Him  were  "the  words  of 
eternal  life." 

This  argument  is  expressed  with  wonderful  force  and 
persuasiveness  in  the  story  of  the  blind  man  whose  eyes 
were  opened  by  Jesus.  Allegorically,  the  blind  man 
represents  any  Christian  who  has  been  cured  of  the 
blindness  of  sin  through  faith  in  Jesus.     The  Pharisees 


JESUS  THE   DIVINE  SAVIOUR  75 

use  all  their  arguments  and  threats  to  lead  him  to  say 
that  he  is  a  different  person  from  the  blind  beggar  of  the 
day  before.  But  still  he  persists,  "I  am  he."  Finally 
they  say  to  him,  * '  Give  glory  to  God ;  we  know  that  this 
man  is  a  sinner."  The  cured  man  answered,  '* Whether 
he  is  a  sinner,  I  know  not ;  one  thing  I  know,  that,  whereas 
I  was  blind,  now  I  see." 

"  He  stood  before  the  Sanhedrin; 
The  scowling  Rabbis  gazed  at  him; 
He  recked  not  of  their  praise  or  blame; 
There  was  no  fear,  there  was  no  shame. 

*'  For  one  upon  whose  dazzled  eyes 
The  whole  world  poured  its  vast  surprise, 
The  open  heaven  was  far  too  near 
His  first  day's  light  too  sweet  and  clear 
To  let  him  waste  his  new-gained  ken 
On  the  hate-clouded  face  of  men. 

*'  But  still  they  questioned.  Who  art  thou, 
What  hast  thou  been  ?     What  art  thou  now  ? 
Thou  art  not  he  who  yesterday 
Sat  here  and  begged  beside  the  way : 
For  he  was  blind :  —  And  I  am  he ; 
For  I  was  blind  but  now  I  see. 


They  were  all  doctors  of  renown 

The  great  men  of  a  famous  town 

With  deep  brows  wrinkled,  broad  and  wise; 

Beneath  their  wide  phylacteries, 

The  wisdom  of  the  East  was  theirs; 

And  honor  crowned  their  silver  hairs. 

The  man  they  jeered  and  laughed  to  scorn, 

Was  imleamed,  poor,  and  humbly  bom, 

But  he  knew  better  far  than  they, 

What  came  to  him  that  Sabbath  Day. 

And  what  the  Christ  had  done  for  hun 

He  knew  and  not  the  Sanhedrin."  .  John  Hay, 


76  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

So  the  simple-hearted  reader  of  John's  Gospel,  as  he  read 
this  story,  was  comforted.  He  might  not  always  be  able 
to  answer  the  arguments  of  the  rabbis.  He  was  not 
trained  in  learned  arguments. 

"But  what  the  Christ  had  done  for  him, 
He  knew,  and  not  the  Sanhedrin." 


CHAPTER  XII 
THE  STORY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT 
The    Writings    of    the    Early    Christians 

The  twenty-seven  books  of  the  New  Testament  were 
all  written,  for  the  most  part,  during  a  period  of  about 
fifty  years,  that  is,  between  50  and  100  A.D.  They  may 
be  divided  roughly  into  four  groups,  which  represent  in 
a  general  way,  four  steps  in  the  history. 

First  of  all,  we  have  a  group  of  letters  by  the  Apostle 
Paul,  written  between  50  and  60  A.D.,  or  thereabouts. 
Next  there  appeared  the  first  three  Gospels  called  the 
Synoptics,  namely  Mark,  Matthew  and  Luke;  and  with 
them  we  may  class  the  Book  of  Acts.  They  were  probably 
written  between  the  years  60  and  80  A.D.  Next  there 
came  another  group  of  letters,  many  of  them  ''general 
epistles"  or  tracts.  Most  of  them  were  written  between 
the  years  80  and  100  A.D.,  although  I  Peter  was  probably 
written  much  earlier  (about  64  A.D.),  and  II  Peter  some- 
what later  (perhaps  about  110  A.D.).  With  this  group 
we  may  for  convenience  sake  include  the  Book  of  Revela- 
tion, although  only  the  first  three  chapters  are  in  the 
form  of  letters.  Most  of  these  writings  are  the  work  of 
the  successors  of  the  apostles. 

The  latest  book  of  importance,  of  those  now  in  the  New 
Testament,  was  the  Gospel  of  John.  There  were  other 
books  by  Christian  leaders,  written  during  this  period, 
and  later;  but  in  beauty  of  language  and  greatness  of 
thought,  the  writings  of  the  New  Testament  tower  far 
above  them  all. 

Differences  Between  the  Various  Books 
The   New   Testament   books   were   written   in   many 
different  places,  as  for  example  in  Ephesus,   Palestine, 

77 


78  THE  STORY   OF   OUR   BIBLE 

and  Rome.  They  were  written  by  ten  or  twelve  different 
persons.  These  writers  were  very  different  from  each 
other  in  temperament  and  training.  Paul  was  a  learned 
Jewish  rabbi.  Luke,  John  and  the  author  of  Hebrews 
were  also  men  of  education,  and  wrote  in  polished  Greek. 
The  author  of  the  Book  of  Revelation,  on  the  other  hand, 
made  mistakes  in  grammar,  and  many  of  the  other  writers, 
as  for  example  Matthew  and  Mark,  had  received  little 
training  in  literary  composition.  In  temperament,  Paul 
was  impetuous  and  quick-tempered.  James  was  a  man 
of  practical  common  sense.  John  was  a  quiet  dreamer. 
Most  of  these  writers  were  by  nationality  Jews,  but  Luke 
was  a  Greek.  Finally,  the  various  New  Testament  books 
were  called  forth  by  the  most  diverse  circumstances. 
Paul's  letters  were  simply  letters;  it  never  occurred  to 
him  that  any  of  them  would  be  preserved  after  they  had 
served  their  immediate  purpose.  Matthew  wrote  his 
Gospel  for  Jews:  Mark  was  perhaps  thinking  especially 
of  the  Romans;  Luke,  of  Greeks.  John  was  seeking  to 
help  the  Christians  of  the  third  generation  after  Jesus. 
All  these  differences  of  authorship  and  circumstances  of 
origin,  have  left  their  mark  upon  the  books. 

The  Unity  of  the  New  Testament 
Nevertheless,  in  spite  of  these  differences,  these  books 
are  bound  together,  in  a  very  real  unity.  There  runs 
through  them  all  a  remarkable  love  for  a  remarkable 
Person.  The  authors  were  all  dominated  by  a  passionate 
loyalty  to  Jesus,  the  carpenter  of  Nazareth,  and  by  the 
supreme  desire  to  spread  abroad  among  men.  His  ideas, 
and  His  way  of  living.  It  was  the  influence  of  Jesus  which 
caused  Paul  to  undertake  those  astonishing  missionary 
campaigns,  in  the  midst  of  which  he  wrote  his  letters. 
It  was  the  intense  desire  to  perpetuate  the  teachings  and 
the  personal  influence  of  Jesus,  which  led  to  the  writing 
of  the  Gospels.  And  of  all  these  writings,  none  shows  a 
more  unbounded  devotion  to  Jesus,  or  a  more  intimate 
appreciation  of  the  divine  greatness  of  His  character,  than 
the  latest  of  them,  the  Gospel  of  John.     Thus  the  story  of 


STORY  OF  THE  NEW  TESTAMENT  79 

the  New  Testament  brings  us  face  to  face  with  ''the  fact 
of  Jesus  Christ."  Who  was  this  Person,  who  suddenly, 
in  the  short  space  of  fifty  years,  cut  into  the  stream  of 
human  history  with  so  resistless  an  influence?  Who  was 
this  Galilean  carpenter  who  inspired  the  New  Testament  ? 
This  is  the  one  great  message  of  the  story  of  the  religious 
movement  out  of  which  these  writings  grew.  Ecce  homo! 
Behold  the  Man! 


80 


THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 


Chart  of  the  New  Testament  Books  in  Approximately 
Chronological  Order 

Author 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 
Paul 

Paul  (in  part) 
Paul  (in  part) 
Paul  (in  part) 
Peter  (in  part) 
John  Mark,  using  earlier 

records 
Unknown  author,  using  a 
collection  of  the  sayings 
of  Jesus  by  Matthew. 
Luke,  the  physician^ 
Luke,  the  physician 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 
Unknown 

Perhaps  the  Apostle  John 
Perhaps  the  Apostle  John 
Perhaps  the  Apostle  John 
Perhaps  the  Apostle  John 
Perhaps  the  Apostle  John 


Date 

Book 

1. 

About  51  A.D. 

I  Thessalonians 

2. 

About  51  A.D. 

Galatians 

3. 

About  51  A.D. 

II  Thessalonians 

4. 

About  55  A.D. 

I  Corinthians 

5. 

About  55  A.D. 

II  Corinthians 

6. 

About  56  A.D. 

Romans 

7. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

Ephesians 

8. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

Colossians 

9. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

Philemon 

10. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

Philippians 

11. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

I  Timothy 

12. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

II  Timothy 

13. 

About  59-61  A.D. 

Titus 

14. 

About  64  A.D. 

I  Peter 

15. 

About  70  A.D. 

Mark 

16. 

About  80  A.D. 

Matthew 

17. 

About  80-90  A.D. 

Luke 

18. 

About  80-90  A.D. 

Acts 

19. 

About  80  A.D. 

Hebrews 

20. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

.  ames 

21. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

'ude 

22. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

II  Peter 

23. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

Revelation 

24. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

I  John 

25. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

II  John 

26. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

III  John 

27. 

About  80-110  A.D. 

The  Gospel  of  John 

CHAPTER  XIII 

BARDS  AND  BALLAD-SINGERS 
Beginning  the  Story  of  the  Old  Testament 

The  only  Bible  which  Jesus  knew  was  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, for  none  of  the  New  Testament  books  were  written 
until  after  His  death.  We  know,  however,  from  the 
facts  recorded  in  the  Gospels  that  Jesus  eagerly  studied 
in  the  synagogue,  at  the  temple,  and  by  Himself  the 
Jewish  sacred  writings  found  in  our  Old  Testament. 

In  former  chapters  we  have  seen  that  the  earliest 
New  Testament  writings  were  not  those  which  now  come 
first  in  our  Bible.  This  is  also  true  of  the  books  of  the 
Old  Testament.  We  have  seen  that  behind  the  Gospels 
of  Matthew  and  Luke  lay  two  earlier  books  —  the  Gospel 
of  Mark  and  another  book  now  lost,  Matthew's  Col- 
lection of  the  Sayings  of  Jesus.  In  a  similar  way,  back 
of  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament  lay  many  earlier 
books  now  lost,  but  it  is  possible  for  scholars  to  detect 
quotations  from  them  by  studying  the  differences  in 
language  and  style.  We  will  therefore  begin  the  Old 
Testament  with  the  story  of  some  of  the  earliest  of  these 
lost  books. 

The  Early  Hebrew  Nomads 

About  fourteen  hundred  years  before  Christ,  there 
was  a  group  of  shepherd  tribes,  leading  their  flocks 
from  oasis  to  oasis,  on  the  borders  of  the  desert  south 
and  east  of  Canaan.  Under  the  leadership  of  a  noble 
sheik  named  Abraham,  these  nomads  had  come  across 
the  desert  from  the  northeast.  The  people  who  in- 
habited Canaan  called  Abraham  and  his  followers 
Hebrews,   that  is,    "  the  people  from  the  other  side.'* 

81 


82  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

The  nomads  called  themselves  "  the  sons  of  Israel." 
After  a  time  certain  tribes  belonging  to  this  group 
were  driven  by  hunger  to  take  refuge  in  Egypt.  For 
a  time  they  were  permitted  by  a  friendly  king  to  pasture 
their  flocks  in  the  district  of  Goshen,  the  open  range 
on  the  northeastern  corner  of  the  land.  But  a  later 
king  laid  upon  them  the  heavy  hand  of  Egyptian  power, 
and  compelled  them  to  render  forced  service  on  his  great 
building  enterprises.  A  leader  was  raised  up  for  them, 
however,  who  had  had  the  advantage  of  education  in 
the  Egyptian  royal  palace.  His  name,  Moses,  implied 
that  he  was  an  Egyptian,  but  in  birth,  in  spirit  and  in 
heart,  he  was  a  true  Hebrew.  He  appealed  to  his  kins- 
men in  the  name  of  the  God  Jehovah,  who  was  believed 
to  dwell  in  the  sacred  mountain  Sinai,  near  which  these 
tribes  had  probably  often  fed  their  flocks.  They  endured 
their  troubles  for  many  years  but  finally  under  the 
leadership  of  Moses,  and  trusting  in  Jehovah's  help, 
they  made  a  dash  for  freedom.  Their  trust  was  quickly 
and  surprisingly  vindicated;  for  a  providential  east 
wind  swept  dry  for  a  few  hours  one  night  the  shallows 
near  the  upper  end  of  the  Red  Sea  (lit.  Sea  of  Reeds, 
probably  Lake  Timsah).  Thus  they  were  able  to  escape 
from  the  Egyptian  soldiers  who  were  pursuing  them,  and 
bade  a  long  farewell  to  Egypt  and  its  rulers.  Returning 
to  the  semi-desert  regions  south  and  east  of  Canaan,  they 
took  up  again,  for  a  time,  nomadic  life. 

This  wonderful  deliverance  made  a  deep  impression  on 
the  Hebrews.  Immediately  after  leaving  Egypt,  Moses 
led  them  to  Mount  Sinai,  where  they  offered  sacrifices 
of  thanksgiving  to  Jehovah.  They  also  made  a  covenant, 
promising  to  worship  no  other  gods  except  Jehovah. 
The  memory  of  these  experiences  and  the  sense  of  belong- 
ing as  a  people  to  so  just  and  mighty  a  God,  undoubtedly 
lifted  them  above  the  tribes  around  them.  They  seemed 
to  have  more  of  what  we  call  now  ''  civic  spirit,"  and  a 
greater  readiness  to  forget  their  selfish  interests  as  in- 
dividuals for  the  sake  of  the  common  welfare. 


BARDS  AND  BALLAD-SINGERS  83 

Songs  Around  the  Campfire 

The  earliest  Old  Testament  literature  was  produced 
by  these  Hebrew  nomads.  They  had  no  books  in  those 
days.  They  did  not  even  know  the  art  of  writing, 
yet  they  had  begun  to  develop  an  oral  literature,  consist- 
ing of  songs  and  ballads,  that  is,  stories  in  poetic  form. 
As  they  sat  around  their  campfires  at  night,  one  member 
of  the  circle  would  often  sing  songs,  and  repeat  ballads. 
Sometimes  they  would  have  with  them  a  professional 
bard.  These  men  went  from  tribe  to  tribe,  and  from 
campfire  to  campfire,  reciting  their  songs  and  stories, 
in  return  for  food  and  lodging. 

Scraps  of  these  ancient  poems  are  found  in  the  Old 
Testament.  One  of  them  may  be  called  the  Song  of 
the  Well.  The  Hebrew  maidens  used  to  sing  this  song 
when  they  went  to  draw  water.  We  may  perhaps 
compare  it  with  our  modem  song  "  The  Old  Oaken 
Bucket."  In  many  languages,  there  are  similar  songs 
which  express  the  gratitude  of  a  thirsty  man  for  a  drink 
of  clear,  cold  water.  As  desert  dwellers  the  Hebrews 
deeply  appreciated  the  value  of  water,  so  that  this  was 
without  doubt  a  very  popular  song.  The  stanza  quoted 
in  the  Old  Testament  is  as  follows: 

Spring  up,  O  well, 

Sing  ye  to  it : 

To  the  well  which  the  chieftains  dug, 

Which  the  nobles  of  the  people  delved, 

With  the  leader's  wand,  with  their  staves.    (Num.  21 :  17-18.) 

The  majority  of  these  ancient  fragments  are  from 
war  songs.  Nomadic  life  was  far  from  being  peaceful. 
Pasturage  was  scarce,  and  every  spring  and  well  and 
green  meadow  was  the  scene  of  many  a  bloody  conflict. 
There  was  no  established  government,  and  the  only 
law  was  the  law  of  blood  revenge;  ''Eye  for  eye,  and 
tooth  for  tooth."  (Lev.  24:20.)  There  is  a  fragment 
of  poetry  in  Genesis,  called  the  Song  of  Lamech,  which 
celebrates  the  vengeance  of  some  desert  warrior. 


84  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Adah  and  Zillah,  hearken  to  my  voice, 

Wives  of  Lamech,  give  ear  to  my  saying. 

A  man  I  slay  for  wounding  me, 

Yea,  a  youth  for  bruising  me. 

If  Cain  shall  be  avenged  seven  fold, 

Lamech  shall  be  seventy  and  seven.    (Gen.  4:  23-24.) 

Most  of  these  war  songs,  however,  reflect  a  nobler 
spirit  than  that  of  mere  personal  revenge.  We  can  trace 
the  influence  of  the  experiences  of  the  Hebrews  in  Egypt 
in  a  strong  feeling  of  loyalty  to  the  nation  as  a  whole. 
This  is  the  spirit  of  a  song  attributed  to  Moses,  which 
praises  Jehovah  on  behalf  of  the  nation  for  the  great 
deliverance  at  the  Red  Sea: 

Sing  ye  to  Jehovah,  for  he  is  greatly  exalted. 

The  horse  and  his  rider  hath  he  thrown  into  the  sea.    (Ex.  15 : 1.) 

Another  ancient  fragment  with  a  similar  spirit  is  called 
the  Song  of  the  Ark.  This  Ark  was  a  sacred  box  or 
chest  which  was  supposed  to  represent  in  some  special 
sense  the  actual  presence  of  Jehovah.  It  was  customary 
for  the  warriors  to  carry  it  with  them  into  battle.  When 
they  had  the  Ark,  they  felt  that  Jehovah  was  fighting 
for  them,  by  their  side.  And  they  sang  a  battle  song, 
as  they  advanced  with  the  Ark  against  the  enemy : 

Rise,  O  Jehovah,  let  thine  enemies  be  scattered: 

Let  those  who  hate  thee,  flee  before  thy  face.    (Nimi.  10:  35.) 

Songs  of  a  Nation's  Heroes 

Like  all  the  desert  dwellers  on  the  borders  of  Canaan, 
the  Hebrews  looked  with  longing  eyes  on  the  fertile 
valleys.  One  unsuccessful  attempt  was  made  to  invade 
the  country  from  the  south,  while  Moses,  their  great 
leader,  was  alive.  Shortly  afterwards  they  established 
themselves  on  the  table  lands  east  of  the  Jordan.  After 
Moses'  death,  they  crossed  the  Jordan,  and  gained  a 
foothold  in  the  settled  territory.  With  that  remarkable 
national  spirit  growing  out  of  their  memories  of  their 
nation's  past,  it  is  not  surprising  that  they  soon  became 


BARDS  AND  BALLAD-SINGERS  85 

masters  of  the  land.  As  for  the  earlier  inhabitants, 
some  were  killed  and  others  were  reduced  to  serfdom. 
With  others  the  Hebrews  made  friendly  alliances,  and 
learned  from  them  how  to  till  the  soil  and  build  houses. 
But  upon  all  the  other  tribes  who  were  gradually  absorbed 
into  the  nation,  the  Hebrews  stamped  their  own  peculiar 
characteristics  and  religion.  They  continued  to  be 
the  people  of  Jehovah,  the  God  who  had  led  them  up 
out  of  the  land  of  Egypt. 

We  have  one  very  old  Hebrew  poem,  the  Song  of 
Deborah,  which  comes  to  us  from  the  period  of  the 
settlement  in  Canaan.  With  the  exception  of  the  brief 
fragments  mentioned  above,  this  is  probably  the  oldest 
piece  of  writing  in  the  Bible.  It  celebrates  a  great 
victory  of  the  Hebrews  over  the  earlier  inhabitants 
of  Canaan.  Previous  to  that  victory  the  original  Canaan- 
ites  were  still  in  control  of  the  cities  and  the  fertile 
lowlands.  In  the  northern  part  of  the  country  there 
was  a  strong  Canaanite  king  named  Sisera,  who  at  one 
time  seemed  on  the  point  of  reducing  the  Hebrews  in 
that  region  to  slavery.  But  a  brave  woman  named 
Deborah  went  about  among  the  different  tribes,  and 
stirred  up  the  old  Hebrew  spirit.  In  substance,  her 
message  was  as  follows:  *'  Let  us  forget  that  we  are 
Ephraimites,  or  Reubenites,  or  Zebulonites,  or  whatever 
our  tribe  may  be,  and  remember  only  that  we  are  Hebrews, 
the  people  of  Jehovah,  who  brought  us  up  out  of  the 
bondage  of  Egypt."  The  result  was  that  most  of  the 
tribes  united  against  the  common  foe,  and  won  a  great 
victory  on  the  Plain  of  Esdraelon.  After  the  battle, 
some  poetic  genius  celebrated  the  victory  in  a  triumph 
song  which  is  one  of  the  most  perfect  compositions  of 
its  kind  in  Hterature.     (Judges  5.) 

A  Nation  Learning  to  Write 

When  the  Hebrews  entered  Canaan,  they  learned 
the  art  of  writing.  Happily  for  the  world,  what  they 
learned  was   the  new  alphabetical  writing  which  had 


86  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

been  for  the  first  time  put  into  practical  use  by  the 
Phoenicians.  The  cumbrous  systems  of  picture-writing, 
which  were  used  by  the  Egyptians  and  Babylonians, 
were  not  favorable  to  the  growth  of  literature  but  were 
used  chiefly  for  recording  laws  and  business  transactions. 
An  alphabet,  however,  consists  of  only  a  few  letters  of 
different  shapes,  through  which  any  spoken  word  can 
be  reduced  to  writing. 

Along  with  the  newly  discovered  alphabet  there  soon 
came  more  convenient  writing  materials.  Formerly 
"  to  write  "  had  meant  to  engrave  on  wood  or  stone. 
That  is  the  original  meaning  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek 
words  translated  "  write."  Men,  however,  learned  to 
write  with  pen  and  ink  on  rolls  of  leather.  The  ability 
to  read  and  write  became  more  common.  Thus  in  time 
it  came  to  pass  that  some  Hebrew  bard,  or  ballad-singer, 
wrote  down  his  collection  of  songs,  in  order  to  aid  his 
memory.  Two  of  these  rolls  or  books  of  early  Hebrew 
songs  were  widely  copied  and  became  well  known. 
One  was  called  *'  The  Book  of  Jashar  "  or  the  Book 
of  Righteous  Israel,  and  the  other  "  The  Wars  of 
Jehovah."  There  are  quotations  from  these  two  books 
in  the  Old  Testament  (Num.  21: 14-15;  Josh.  10:12-13; 
2  Sam.  1 :  18.)  Possibly  they  contained  the  Song  of 
Deborah  and  other  early  poems  now  quoted  in  the 
Old  Testament  books. 

Religion  and  the  Civic  Spirit 

The  religion  of  such  poems  as  the  Song  of  Deborah 
is  essentially  a  civic  religion.  This  was  the  imique 
characteristic  of  the  Hebrews  after  their  common  suffer- 
ings in  Egypt  and  their  wonderful  deliverance.  They 
thought  of  Jehovah  as  the  God  of  the  whole  nation, 
and  as  a  God  who  would  frown  on  any  act  of  selfishness, 
whereby  a  single  individual  might  be  benefited  at  the 
expense  of  the  general  welfare.  The  essential  spirit 
of  this  religion  was  on  the  side  of  justice  and  fair  play. 

Even  in  these  early  poems,  therefore,  we  begin  to  see 


Brick  of  Hamiiniral.i.  lU'conliui 
the  Building  of  a  Temple. 


Cretan  Pictographio  \Yriting 
from  Phsestos. 


rff  ^.%':'^ 


Clay  Tablet,  with  Linear  Script. 
Palace  of  Minos,  Cnossos,  Crete. 


wm 


^% 


The  Rosetta  Stone. 


ANCIENT   SYSTEMS   OF   WRITING. 
From  Goodspeed's  "  Ancient  World." 


BARDS  AND  BALLAD-SINGERS  87 

the  secret  of  that  extraordinary  moral  and  religious 
influence  which  the  Hebrew  people  were  destined  to 
exert  upon  mankind  during  all  the  centuries  to  follow. 
In  teaching  men  to  deny  themselves  for  the  common 
good,  they  were  to  lift  the  world  toward  God. 


CHAPTER  XIV 

OLD  STORIES  TOLD  IN  A  NEW  WAY 

The  Earliest  Histories  of  the  Hebrews 

Questions  about  the  Origin  of  Things 

There  are  certain  questions  which  awaken  the  curiosity 
of  every  one.  How  did  this  wonderful  world  come  into 
existence?  How  is  it  that  you  and  I  happen  to  be  here? 
How  did  things  in  general  come  to  be  as  they  are?  Some 
of  these  difficult  questions  have  been  partially  answered 
by  scientists,  such  as  Newton  and  Darwin.  In  ancient 
times  there  was  little  or  no  science ;  yet  in  every  country, 
there  were  certain  answers  to  these  questions,  handed 
down  from  generation  to  generation,  and  generally 
accepted  as  true.  Among  the  Hindus,  it  used  to  be 
said  that  the  world  was  hatched  out  of  an  enormous  egg. 
It  is  not  difficult  to  see  how  ideas  of  this  kind  grew  up. 
First  of  all,  some  one  suggested  that  the  world  might 
have  been  created  in  this  way  or  another.  His  idea  was 
accepted  by  others  and  passed  on  from  lip  to  lip.  Fathers 
told  it  to  their  children.  After  a  few  generations  it 
acquired  the  authority  of  antiquity.  "  This  is  what 
we  have  been  taught  by  our  ancestors,"  people  said. 
"It  must  be  true." 

The  Nations  who  Taught  the  Hebrews 

When  the  Hebrews  entered  Canaan  they  naturally 
were  inclined  to  adopt  the  ideas  and  beliefs  of  the  earlier 
inhabitants  of  the  country,  whose  knowledge  in  regard 
to  most  matters  was  far  beyond  theirs.  They  also 
came  in  contact  with  other  civilized  nations,  especially 
the  Babylonians.  The  two  leading  civiHzed  nations 
of  that  day  were  the  Babylonians  and  the  Egyptians. 

88 


OLD  STORIES  TOLD  IN  A  NEW  WAY 


89 


90  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

A  glance  at  the  map  (page  89)  will  show  that  any 
people  living  in  Canaan  would  inevitably  come  into 
close  relationship  with  both  these  nations;  for  there 
was  only  one  convenient  caravan  route  between  them, 
and  that  route  passed  through  Canaan.  There  was 
indeed  a  more  direct  route,  but  it  led  across  the 
barren  desert  of  interior  Arabia,  which  was  hundreds  of 
miles  wide.  Hence  the  great  caravans  were  accustomed 
to  go  up  the  Euphrates  river  some  hundreds  of  miles, 
cross  the  desert  where  it  was  narrowest  to  Damascus, 
and  then  pass  down  through  the  narrow  lane  of  arable 
land,  about  seventy-five  miles  wide,  which  lay  between 
the  desert  and  the  southwestern  shore  of  the  Medi- 
terranean Sea.  That  narrow  stretch  of  land  was  Canaan. 
Visitors  from  Babylonia  were  therefore  frequently  seen 
in  Hebrew  towns  and  villages.  Apparently  they  exerted 
a  greater  influence  than  the  Egyptians,  perhaps  on  account 
of  their  closer  kinship  in  race  and  language. 

For  more  than  two  thousand  years  before  the  Hebrews 
entered  Canaan,  the  Babylonians  had  an  elaborate  system 
of  writing.  They  used  clay  tablets  as  writing  material. 
The  characters  were  inscribed  on  the  clay  while  it  was 
soft,  and  then  the  tablet  was  allowed  to  dry  and  harden 
in  the  sun.  The  writing  is  described  by  modern  scholars 
as  cuneiform,  that  is,  wedge-shaped.  If  you  will  try  the 
experiment,  you  will  find  that  the  marks  produced  on  clay 
by  a  sharp-pointed  cube  are  naturally  wedge-shaped. 
In  recent  years  great  numbers  of  these  old  clay  tablets 
covered  with  writing  have  been  dug  up  in  the  ruins  of 
Babylonian  cities  and  are  now  preserved  in  museums. 
Scholars,  after  years  of  patient  labor,  have  at  last  de- 
ciphered this  language. 

The  Questions  of  the  Hebrews  and  the  Answers 
OF  THE  Babylonians 

As  the  Hebrews  became  acquainted  with  these  rulers 
of  the  east  they  learned  something  of  their  answers  to 
those  eternal   questions   which  men  have   been   asking 


OLD  STORIES  TOLD  IN  A  NEW  WAY       91 

since  the  beginning  of  time.  We  know  that  they  were 
influenced  in  this  way  because  on  the  clay  tablets,  some 
of  which  were  inscribed  long  before  the  Hebrew  nation 
existed,  we  find  stories  which  are  strikingly  similar  to 
certain  stories  in  the  Bible. 

For  example,  Babylonian  traders  in  the  inns  of  Pales- 
tinian towns  used  to  tell  a  story  of  the  creation  of  the 
world  and  also  about  a  great  flood  which  the  gods  sent 
upon  the  earth.  It  was  told  as  the  answer  to  the  question 
why  we  human  beings  die,  instead  of  living  on  forever. 
Scholars  have  found  clay  tablets  containing  practically 
the  whole  Babylonian  story  of  the  flood.  It  runs  as  follows : 
The  gods  had  determined  to  destroy  mankind,  in  order 
to  prevent  men  from  attaining  immortality,  but  one 
of  them,  named  Ea,  sent  a  warning  to  a  man  named 
Utnapishtim,  warning  him  of  the  flood,  and  instructing 
him  to  build  a  ship,  and  to  take  into  it  his  family,  and 
a  pair  of  each  kind  of  animals.  Then  came  the  terrible 
storm  of  rain,  says  Utnapishtim.  The  earth  was  covered 
with  water;  for  six  days  and  nights  the  rain  fell,  until 
all  living  things  were  destroyed,  except  those  on  the 
ship.  Even  the  gods  were  terrified,  and  climbing  to 
the  highest  heaven,  cowered  like  dogs  as  they  looked 
over  the  edge.  But  after  six  days  and  six  nights  the 
storm  ceased,  and  the  ship  rested  on  the  top  of  the  moun- 
tain Nisir.     Then  after  seven  days  more, 

"  I  sent  forth  a  dove  and  let  it  loose, 
The  dove  went  forth,  but  came  back, 
Because  it  found  no  resting-place,  it  returned. 

Then  I  sent  forth  a  raven  and  let  it  loose, 

The  raven  went  forth  and  saw  that  the  waters  had  decreased; 

It  ate,  it  waded,  it  croaked,  but  did  not  return. 

Then  I  sent  forth  everything  in  all  directions  and  offered  a 

sacrifice. 
The  gods  inhaled  the  odor, 
The  gods  inhaled  the  sweet  odor, 
The  gods  gathered  like  flies  above  the  sacrifice." 


92  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

Canaanite  Traditions 
Besides  these  stories  which  came  from  Babylonia, 
there  were  many  others  which  the  Hebrews  received 
from  the  Canaanites.  Some  of  them  had  to  do  with 
the  many  shrines  or  temples,  where  the  Canaanites 
offered  sacrifices  to  the  gods.  These  temples  were 
usually  built  over  certain  rocks  or  near  trees,  which  the 
Canaanites  regarded  as  sacred.  Each  temple  was  dedi- 
cated to  some  special  god,  who  was  the  Baal  or  lord  of 
that  part  of  the  country.  "  Why  do  you  regard  that 
tree  as  sacred?"  the  Hebrews  would  ask.  "  Because 
Ashtarte  (or  some  other  deity)  dwells  in  it,"  the 
Canaanites  would  answer.  "  She  appeared  here  once, 
in  visible  form,  to  the  man  who  first  built  this  temple. 
That  is  why  we  offer  sacrifices  here."  Thus  the  Hebrews 
were  educated  in  the  traditional  beliefs  of  the  leading 
nations  among  whom  they  lived. 

One  God  or  Many  Gods 

Not  all  of  this  education  was  of  a  wholesome  kind. 
The  moral  atmosphere  among  the  idlers  in  the  public 
square  of  such  a  town  as  old  Canaanite  Gibeon,  in  the 
year  1000  B.C.,  was  far  from  elevating.  All  of  these 
stories  which  the  Hebrews  heard  in  such  places  took  for 
granted  that  it  is  right  to  worship  many  gods;  but  the 
Hebrews  had  promised  to  worship  only  Jehovah. 

This  worship  of  the  one  God  of  the  whole  nation  was 
essentially  ennobling.  It  was  a  civic  religion,  and  tended 
toward  righteousness.  It  led  men  to  look  at  all  questions 
from  the  broad  standpoint  of  the  whole  nation.  On 
the  other  hand,  in  each  Canaanite  village  the  Hebrews 
found  a  shrine  dedicated  to  some  petty  local  deity,  the 
"  Baal  "  or  "  lord  "  of  that  village  and  of  the  surrounding 
farms.  The  religious  spirit  at  these  shrines  was  narrow 
and  selfish.  The  ceremonies  were  frequently  impure, 
cruel  and  revolting.  The  best  men  among  the  Hebrews 
were  therefore  bitterly  opposed  to  the  worship  of  any 
gods  except  Jehovah. 


THE   SUMERIAN  ARMY  IN   ACTION. 


?ia?i^  .■ifut^'  im 


I,.  -  ._    ,    /      4^<      ^Z 


iiClL    't^-' 


BABYLONIAN   CYLINDEIIS. 
From  Goodspeed's  "Ancient  World." 


OLD  STORIES  TOLD  IN  A  NEW  WAY       93 

Retelling  the  Old  Stories 
One  of  the  hardest  problems  these  men  had  to  face 
was  how  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  stories  about 
the  gods,  which  the  Hebrews  had  learned  from  the  Baby- 
lonians and  Canaanites.  They  might  perhaps  have 
denounced  them;  but  that  would  only  have  increased 
the  curiosity  of  people  about  them.  Fortunately  the 
wisest  men  in  those  early  days  followed  a  better  plan. 
They  retold  these  stories  in  their  own  way.  Disregarding 
those  things  which  were  false  and  base,  they  were  on  the 
alert  for  illustrations  of  sublime  truths.  We  have  the 
results  of  their  work  in  the  great  stories  of  the  book  of 
Genesis. 

In  all  these  stories,  they  struck  out  all  reference  to 
"  the  gods,"  and  left  only  Jehovah  as  the  one  majestic 
creator  and  ruler  of  the  world.  In  the  story  of  the  Garden 
of  Eden,  and  of  the  Flood,  they  explained  that  troubles 
come  upon  men,  not  because  of  the  *'  jealousy  "  of  the 
gods,  as  the  Babylonians  had  said,  but  because  men 
disobey  Jehovah.  And  what  a  contrast  in  the  story 
of  the  Flood,  between  the  Babylonian  description  of 
"  the  gods  hovering  like  flies  above  the  sacrifice  "  and 
the  Hebrew  portrayal  of  the  one  just  and  holy  God! 

These  men  also  saw  something  worth  w^hile  in  the 
stories  which  originally  came  from  the  Canaanites.  They 
therefore  retold  these  stories  also,  in  a  nobler  form. 
They  explained  the  various  sacred  shrines  in  Canaan 
not  as  abodes  of  heathen  gods,  but  as  places  where  Je- 
hovah at  one  time  or  another  had  appeared  to  Abraham, 
Isaac  and  Jacob.  The  sacred  stone  at  the  temple  of 
Bethel,  for  example,  was  sacred  not  because  a  heathen 
deity  lived  inside  of  it  but  because  Jacob  had  used  that 
stone  as  a  rest  for  his  head  as  he  slept  there  one  night, 
a  fugitive.  In  his  sleep  he  saw  a  ladder  reaching  to 
heaven  and  Jehovah  at  the  top  of  it.  So  when  he  awoke 
he  set  up  that  stone  as  a  sacred  pillar,  and  poured  oil 
on  it.     That  is  why  (so  this  author  taught)  the  Israelites 


94  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

worship   Jehovah   by   this   pillar   at   Bethel,    and   pour 
sacrificial  oil  upon  it.     (See  Gen.  28: 10-22.) 

So  well  did  the  wise  story-tellers  do  their  work  that 
these  new  stories  almost  completely  supplanted  the  old, 
and  in  their  new  form  were  a  most  powerful  help  to  the 
cause  of  righteousness  and  truth. 


CHAPTER  XV 
STORIES  OF  A  NATION'S  HEROES 

The  Earliest  Historical  Writings  of  the  Hebrews 

After  the  deliverance  from  Egyptian  oppression,  the 
next  event  which  most  powerfully  bound  the  Hebrew 
people  together  was  the  triumph  over  the  Philistines. 
(About  1050  to  950  B.C.)  This  triumph  is  chiefly 
connected  with  the  name  of  David,  and  also  with  the 
names  of  Samuel,  Saul  and  Jonathan.  The  Philistines 
were  a  powerful  nation  on  the  west  coast  of  Palestine. 
The  Hebrews  had  just  succeeded  in  estabHshing  them- 
selves in  the  central  part  of  the  country  when  they  found 
their  existence  as  a  people  endangered  by  the  crushing 
attacks  of  these  tyrants  on  the  coast.  But  once  again 
the  wonderful  civic  spirit  of  the  Hebrews  saved  them 
from  destruction.  Under  the  leadership  of  Samuel, 
Saul  and  Jonathan,  the  scattered  tribes  forgot  their 
selfish  jealousies,  and  were  united  into  a  kingdom.  Under 
Saul  and  David,  after  a  long  and  heroic  struggle,  the 
Philistines  were  subdued ;  and  finally  the  tact  and  military 
genius  of  David  made  Israel  a  power  among  the  nations. 
Through  all  the  generations  since  that  time,  the  Hebrews 
have  looked  back  upon  the  reign  of  David  as  the  golden 
age  in  their  history;  and  their  supreme  national  hope 
has  been  for  a  son  of  David  to  arise,  who  should  re- 
establish a  united  and  glorious  Hebrew  kingdom. 

Biographies  of  Saul  and  David 

In  the  years  immediately  following  David's  death, 
all  hearts  were  filled  with  glowing  pride  in  their  national 
achievements.  The  universal  happiness  and  enthusiasm 
welled  up  through  the  hearts  and   lips  of  poets    into 

95 


96  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

songs,  such  as  the  one  preserved  in  Gen.  49.  It  found 
another  outlet  in  the  writing  of  beautiful  prose  stories, 
telling  of  the  great  exploits  of  their  national  heroes. 

In  I  Samuel,  chapters  9-14,  there  is  a  series  of  quota- 
tions from  a  stirring  narrative  about  Saul  and  Jonathan. 
In  the  remaining  chapters  of  I  Samuel,  and  in  II  Samuel, 
there  is  a  group  of  stories  about  David.  These  two 
biographies  were  probably  written  during  the  reign  of 
Solomon. 

These  books,  the  one  about  Saul,  and  the  other  about 
David,  rank  among  the  literary  masterpieces  of  the  world. 
Their  authors  were  men  of  genius  like  the  Greek  poet 
Homer,  who  perhaps  was  living  at  about  this  same  period. 
From  beginning  to  end  they  rivet  the  attention  and  stir 
the  deepest  emotions  of  the  heart.  They  also  show  the 
ennobling  influence  of  that  loyalty  to  the  nation  as  a 
whole,  which  was  so  remarkable  a  characteristic  of  the 
Hebrews.  For  example,  as  compared  with  the  stories 
told  by  the  writers  of  other  nations  of  that  time,  the 
moral  standards  of  these  early  Hebrew  writers  were  very 
high.  This  is  illustrated  in  the  history  of  David.  In 
the  stories  of  other  nations,  we  find  only  the  most  ex- 
travagant praises  of  their  heroes.  The  Hebrew  narrative 
about  David,  on  the  contrary,  does  not  cover  up  the 
fact  that  this  great  man  had  his  faults  and  shortcomings. 
The  Biblical  writer  tells  the  whole  story  of  David's 
murder  of  Uriah,  and  declares  that  David's  action  ''dis- 
pleased Jehovah."  The  supreme  object  of  this  writer's 
love  and  loyalty  was  not  any  single  individual,  not 
even  David,  but  Israel,  and  Israel's  God. 

The  Disruption  and  its  Consequences 

David's  son  Solomon  was  a  man  of  a  different  type. 
He  used  his  office  as  king  to  gratify  his  own  selfish 
ambitions.  After  the  death  of  Solomon,  he  was  succeeded 
by  his  son  Rehoboam,  whose  reputation  for  tyranny 
resulted  in  the  revolt  of  the  northern  tribes,  who  formed 
a  separate  kingdom  called  Israel.     Thus  the  nation  was 


STORIES  OF  A  NATION'S  HEROES         97 

broken  into  two  parts,  and  the  sense  of  national  unity 
was  greatly  weakened.  When  there  were  two  kingdoms, 
Israel  in  the  north,  with  its  capital  at  Samaria,  and 
Judah  in  the  south,  with  its  capital  at  Jerusalem,  the 
people  began  to  lose  their  loyalty  to  the  nation  as  a 
whole.  Naturally,  also,  they  became  less  loyal  to  the 
God  of  the  whole  nation,  and  the  degrading  worship 
of  the  petty  local  '*  Baals "  began  to  increase.  We 
even  find  Ahab  and  Jezebel,  in  the  northern  Idngdom, 
introducing  the  worship  of  a  foreign  god,  Baal  Melkart, 
a  Phoenician  idol.     (About  875  B.C.) 

The  Prophetic  History  of  Jehovah's  People 

This  crisis  brought  to  the  front  the  fiery  prophet  Elijah, 
who  fearlessly  rebuked  King  Ahab  and  his  queen  for 
their  worship  of  the  heathen  Baal,  and  for  their  injustice 
to  their  subjects.  Other  prophets  rallied  to  the  support 
of  Elijah  and  his  successor  Elisha.  Sometimes  these 
prophets  organized  themselves  into  bands,  and  lived 
together  as  religious  communities.  They  would  build 
their  own  house,  till  their  own  fields,  and  eat  together  in 
one  common  dining-room.  One  day,  in  one  of  these 
communities,  probably  in  Judah,  a  very  wise  suggestion 
was  made.  We  may  imagine  that  the  prophets  w^ere 
talking  together  after  dinner,  about  their  work.  ''  Why 
not  teach  our  countrymen  to  be  loyal  to  Jehovah  the 
God  of  our  nation,  by  writing  for  them  our  national 
history  ?  We  will  show  them  what  a  glorious  past  lies 
behind  us,  and  how  wonderfully  Jehovah  has  guided 
and  helped  us  from  the  very  beginning." 

This  suggestion  was  acted  upon  with  enthusiasm,  and 
the  prophets  began  to  gather  material  which  they  could 
use.  Much  of  it  was  in  the  form  of  oral  stories,  handed 
down  from  memory,  from  father  to  son, —  stories  of 
the  Creation  and  the  Flood  and  other  stories  now  found 
in  the  book  of  Genesis.  They  also  found  written  material, 
such  as  the  songs  in  the  book  of  Jashar,   and  the  Wars 


98  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

of  Jehovah,   and  the  written  biographies  of  Saul  and 

David. 

It  appears  that  two  such  histories  were  prepared,  one 
in  Judah,  and  then  another  at  a  somewhat  later  date, 
in  the  northern  part  of  the  country,  perhaps  in  the  tribe 
of  Ephraim.  These  were  finally  woven  together  into  a 
single  narrative,  which  is  sometimes  called  the  Judean- 
Ephraimite  history.  Quotations  from  this  history  make 
up  the  larger  part  of  the  present  Old  Testament  books 
from  Genesis  to  I  Kings.  The  original  history  is  not 
now  in  existence,  but  most  scholars  are  in  practical 
agreement  as  to  the  passages  in  our  Old  Testament  books 
which  were  taken  from  it.  Putting  these  selections 
together,  we  probably  have  a  considerable  part  of  the 
entire  work  in  its  original  form. 

Historical  Value  and  Religious  Aim  of  the 
Prophetic  History 

The  ruling  purpose  of  the  entire  history  was  not  merely 
to  give  information  regarding  past  events,  but  to  teach 
religious  truth.  It  is,  however,  a  priceless  mine  of  his- 
torical information.  Naturally,  those  parts  appear  to 
be  most  accurate  which  tell  of  events  which  happened 
not  long  before  the  time  when  the  history  was  written,  as 
for  example,  the  career  of  David,  but  even  the  stories 
which  came  down  to  the  writers  from  antiquity  probably 
contain  memories  of  historical  facts.  We  find  that  the 
story  of  Joseph  is  supported  in  part  by  statements  on 
the  Egyptian  monuments,  which  refer  to  a  foreigner 
who  rose  to  power  in  Egypt  about  the  time  when  Joseph 
is  supposed  to  have  lived.  But  the  story  of  Joseph  was 
included  in  the  history,  not  merely  to  satisfy  curiosity 
regarding  that  ancient  period,  but  to  hold  up  before  the 
people  of  Israel  those  splendid  ideals  of  purity  and  un- 
selfishness and  faithful  devotion  to  the  common  good 
which  Joseph  represented. 

One  great  idea  runs  through  the  whole  work;  the  idea 
of  the  civic  spirit  in  religion.     Israel  is  the  chosen  people 


STORIES  OF  A  NATION'S  HEROES         99 

of  Jehovah;  every  Israelite  must  therefore  be  loyal  to 
his  nation  and  to  his  nation's  God.  The  authors  told 
how  Jehovah  had  made  three  beginnings,  as  it  were,  in 
His  effort  to  provide  a  race  of  men  to  love  and  worship 
Him.  He  began  with  Adam,  but  Adam  proved  a  failure. 
He  tried  again  with  Noah,  and  even  Noah's  descendants 
became  corrupt.  So  at  last,  he  chose  the  faithful  Abra- 
ham to  be  the  ancestor  of  a  better  people.  All  kinds 
of  difficulties  arose,  which  seemed  about  to  thwart  the 
plan,  as  when  Jacob  and  his  sons  were  compelled  to 
leave  Canaan  and  go  down  to  Egypt.  But  through  such 
leaders  as  Joseph,  Moses,  Joshua,  Samuel  and  many 
others,  Jehovah  helped  them  to  triumph  over  all  their 
enemies.  Thus  at  last  came  the  glorious  reign  of  David, 
when  Jehovah's  promise  to  Abraham  began  to  be  fulfilled. 
"  I  will  make  of  thee  a  great  nation,  and  I  will  surely 
bless  thee,  and  make  thy  name  great."     (Gen.  12:  2.) 

The  influence  of  this  history  upon  those  Hebrews  among 
whom  it  was  first  circulated  must  have  been  greater 
than  we  can  realize.  People  were  held  spellbound 
by  the  stories  of  Adam  and  Eve,  of  Noah,  of  Abraham 
and  of  Jacob.  They  wept  over  Joseph;  they  were  thrilled 
by  the  mighty  deeds  of  Jehovah  through  Moses,  and 
Joshua  and  Gideon,  and  by  the  great  victories  of  Saul 
and  David.  Many  of  these  old  stories  had  been  heard 
before,  in  one  form  or  another,  but  men  had  never  realized 
how  much  they  meant.  Now  they  saw  that  the  whole 
course  of  past  history  was  one  splendid  call  to  them  to 
forget  their  selfish  desires  in  loyalty  to  Israel  and  Israel's 
God. 


CHAPTER  XVI 

JUSTICE  THROUGH  LAWS 

Old  Testament  Law-Books 

In  the  first  five  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially 
from  Exodus  to  Deuteronomy,  we  find  a  large  body  of 
laws.  As  in  the  case  of  the  historical  narratives,  some 
of  these  laws  came  into  existence  at  an  early  date  in 
Hebrew  history,  and  others  centuries  later.  The  period 
of  time  during  which  the  earlier  laws  were  enacted  and 
put  into  written  form  is  about  the  same  as  that  which  saw 
the  development  of  historical  writing,  from  the  earliest 
songs  and  prose  stories,  down  to  the  composition  of  the 
connected  prophetic  histories.     (1400  to  800  B.C.) 

Early  Ten-Finger  Law-Codes  among  the   Hebrews 

The  Hebrews  at  Mount  Sinai  received  from  Moses, 
as  Jehovah's  representative,  a  decalogue  or  code  of 
ten  commandments,  which  in  their  covenant  with 
Jehovah  they  promised  to  obey.  Why  were  there  just 
fen  of  these  commandments,  rather  than  nine  or  twelve? 
Probably  for  the  simple  reason  that  there  are  ten  fingers 
on  the  two  hands.  These  nomad  shepherds  had  as  yet 
no  system  of  writing,  and  hence  were  compelled  to  rely 
on  memory  alone  for  keeping  these  laws  in  mind,  and 
the  ten  fingers  have  been  used  as  an  aid  to  memory  in 
all  ages.  As  a  Hebrew  boy  or  girl  repeated  the  ten 
injunctions,  he  would  count  them  off  on  his  fingers.  If 
by  chance  he  skipped  one,  the  faithful  fingers  would 
reveal  the  mistake,  for  there  would  still  be  one  finger 
left  when  he  supposed  he  had  finished  the  list.  It  was 
an  easier  task  for  him  than  for  our  Sunday-school  boys 
and  girls  today,  because  in  those  days,  all  of  the  command- 

100 


JUSTICE  THROUGH  LAWS  101 

ments  were  short,  with  none  of  the  explanatory  additions 
which  we  find  in  their  present  form.  The  original  ten 
commandments  were  perhaps  as  follows: 

1.  Thou  shalt  have  no  other  gods  before  me. 

2.  Thou  shalt  make  thee  no  molten  gods. 

3.  Thou  shalt  not  take  the  name  of  Jehovah  thy 

God  in  vain. 

4.  Remember  the  sabbath  day  to  keep  it  holy. 

5.  Honor  thy  father  and  thy  mother. 

6.  Thou  shalt  not  kill. 

7.  Thou  shalt  not  commit  adultery. 

8.  Thou  shalt  not  steal. 

9.  Thou  shalt  not  bear  false  witness. 
10.  Thou  shalt  not  covet. 

This  decalogue  was  engraved  on  stone  tablets  at  a 
very  early  date  and  the  tablets  kept  at  some  temple. 
For  a  long  time  after  that,  however,  there  were  no  other 
copies  of  it,  save  in  the  memories  of  the  people. 

This  ten-finger,  or  decalogue  arrangement  was  followed 
in  all  the  earliest  Hebrew  laws.  The  original  ''  Ten 
Commandments  "  are  not  the  only  decalogue  in  the  Old 
Testament.  It  is  possible  to  distinguish  fourteen  or 
fifteen  separate  decalogues  in  the  oldest  sections  of 
Exodus  and  Leviticus.  These  were  all  prepared  in  that 
early  period  before  the  art  of  writing  had  become  common 
among  the  Hebrews.  In  later  times,  of  course,  written 
copies  were  circulated  everywhere. 

The  Influence  of  Babylonian  Laws  on  the  Laws 
OF  THE  Hebrews 

At  the  beginning  of  their  history,  the  Hebrews  did  not 
need  many  laws.  Most  laws  are  made  necessary  by 
disputes  regarding  property;  and  in  their  desert  life,  the 
Hebrews  did  not  possess  much  property.  Moses,  himself, 
at  one  time  used  to  settle  all  the  questions  which  arose 
among  them.  (See  Exodus  18.)  Later,  however,  he 
appointed  other  judges  to  decide  the  less  important  of 


102  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

the  many  cases  which  arose  and  only  the  more  difficult 
questions  were  referred  to  him.  After  the  Hebrews 
settled  in  Canaan  and  began  to  own  land  and  houses 
and  cattle  as  well  as  tents  and  sheep,  other  laws  were 
necessary  for  their  guidance  in  their  new  life.  They 
seem  to  have  adopted  many  of  the  laws  which  they  found 
already  in  force  among  the  Canaanites.  The  Canaanites 
in  turn  had  been  influenced  by  the  laws  of  the  Baby- 
lonians, which  on  the  whole  were  surprisingly  just. 
In  the  year  1901,  a  large  block  of  stone  was  unearthed 
by  excavators,  on  which  were  inscribed  in  long  columns 
the  laws  of  the  Babylonian  king,  Hammurabi,  who  lived 
about  2000  B.C.,  or  nearly  a  thousand  years  before  Moses. 
We  find  certain  resemblances  between  laws  in  the  Old 
Testament,  and  laws  of  the  Code  of  Hammurabi,  just  as 
we  have  found  resemblances  between  the  stories  of  the 
Creation  and  the  Flood  in  the  Old  Testament,  and 
similar  stories  on  the  Babylonian  clay  tablets. 
In  Hammurabi's  code,  we  find  the  following  law: 

"  If  a  man  has  hired  an  ox,  and  has  caused  its  death,  by 
carelessness  or  blows,  he  shall  restore  ox  for  ox  to  the 
owner  of  the  ox." 

In  Ex.  22: 14,  we  find  a  law  somewhat  similar: 

"  If  a  man  borrow  an  animal  from  his  neighbor,  and  it 
be  hurt  or  die  while  its  owner  is  not  with  it,  the  man 
must  make  restitution." 

In  Hammurabi's  code  we  find  this  law: 

"If  a  man  has  deposited  corn  for  safe  keeping  in 
another's  house,  and  it  has  suffered  damage  in  the 
granary,  or  if  the  owner  of  the  house  has  opened  the 
store  and  taken  the  com,  the  owner  of  the  house  shall 
return  him  double." 

While  Ex.  22:  7  requires: 

**  If  a  man  deliver  to  his  neighbor  money  or  personal 
property  to  keep,  and  it  be  stolen  out  of  the  man's  house, 
if  the  thief  be  found,  he  shall  make  double  restitution. 
If  the  thief  be  not  found,  then  the  master  of  the  house 


STONE  COLU^IN  ON  WHICH  HAMlMURABrS  LAW 
CODE  IS  INSCRIBED. 

From  a  photograpli  by  Underwood  and  Underwood. 


JUSTICE  THROUGH  LAWS  103 

shall  come  before  God  (that  is,  before  the  priest),  to 
prove  whether  or  not  he  hath  his  neighbor's  goods." 

These  are  certainly  striking  similarities  and  seem  to 
show  that  the  laws  of  the  Babylonians  were  knowTi  to 
the  Hebrews  of  those  days. 

The  Moral  Standards  of  the  Hebrew  Laws 

All  these  early  codes  of  the  Hebrews,  however,  show 
the  unique  moral  spirit  which  was  developed  among  them, 
as  a  result  of  their  experiences  in  Egypt  and  in  the  wilder- 
ness under  their  great  leader  Moses.  They  were  rightly 
called  the  laws  of  Moses,  even  though  not  all  of  them 
came  directly  from  his  lips.  We  find  in  them  high  ideals 
of  conduct,  which  were  unknown  among  the  other  nations 
of  that  time.  The  moral  uniqueness  of  the  early  Hebrew 
codes  is  especially  clear  when  we  compare  them  with 
the  Code  of  Hammurabi.  While  that  great  ruler  declared 
that  his  purpose  was  to  **  make  justice  shine  in  the  land," 
we  find,  nevertheless,  that  many  of  his  penalties  are 
cruel.  He  makes  distinctions  between  the  nobles  and 
the  common  people,  and  punished  far  more  severely 
any  injury  to  a  noble.  As  for  slaves,  a  master  might 
maim  or  kill  his  own  slave,  with  impunity.  The  Hebrew 
laws  on  the  contrary  do  not  recognize  any  distinction 
between  nobles  and  common  people,  and  more  than  that, 
extend  their  protection  even  to  slaves.  (See  Ex.  21:  26.) 
In  short,  the  Hebrew  laws,  far  more  than  the  Babylonian, 
recognize  that 

"A  man 's  a  man  for  a'  that," 
no  matter  whether  he  is  rich  or  poor,  a  noble  or  a  peasant, 
a  free-man  or  a  slave. 

Later  Revisions  and  Additions 

In  later  centuries,  these  early  laws  were  revised  from 
time  to  time  and  many  additions  were  made.  The 
Book  of  Deuteronomy  is  one  of  the  most  important  of 
these  revisions.     It  retains  all  the  older  provisions  for 


104  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

justice  and  kindness  to  the  poor  and  oppressed,   and 
adds  similar  ordinances  in  the  same  spirit.     For  example, 

"  When  thou  buildest  a  new  house,  thou  shalt  make  a  parapet 
for  thy  roof,  that  thou  bring  not  blood  upon  thy  house,  in  case 
any  man  should  fall  from  it."     (Deut.  22:  8.) 

As  time  went  on  there  was  also  a  great  increase  in  the 
number  of  laws  about  religious  ceremonies.  There  was 
a  natural  tendency  to  make  the  ritual  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  more  and  more  elaborate.  Written  rules 
were  carefully  worked  out  by  the  priests  prescribing  how 
each  minute  detail  should  be  performed. 

But  though  many  men,  during  many  centuries,  had 
a  hand  in  the  making  of  these  laws,  they  were  always 
called  "  the  laws  of  Moses."  Later  Hebrew  generations 
believed  that  they  were  all  given  to  the  people  by  Moses, 
either  at  Sinai  or  on  the  plains  east  of  the  Jordan,  just 
before  his  death.  It  was  a  natural  thought,  therefore, 
to  combine  the  law-codes  and  the  narratives  of  the  early 
history  of  Israel  into  a  single  document.  The  laws  would 
be  more  impressive  in  this  historical  setting.  Editors 
and  scribes,  therefore,  took  that  part  of  the  Judean- 
Ephraimite  history  which  covered  the  period  from  the 
Creation  to  the  settlement  in  Canaan,  and  also  certain 
historical  narratives  by  later  priestly  writers,  and  inserted, 
at  what  they  considered  the  proper  places,  the  whole 
body  of  these  laws.  It  is  this  combination  of  laws  and 
historical  narratives  which  we  find  in  the  Old  Testament, 
as  the  Pentateuch,  or  the  five  books  of  Genesis,  Exodus, 
Leviticus,  Numbers  and  Deuteronomy.  The  Pentateuch 
was  known  to  the  Jews  as  the  Torah,  or  the  Law. 

In  a  true  sense,  this  body  of  laws  may  very  properly 
be  called  by  the  name  of  Moses,  for  to  a  large  extent  it 
carries  out  the  aims  and  spirit  of  that  great  teacher  of 
reverence  toward  God,  and  champion  of  justice  among 
men. 


CHAPTER  XVII 

A    CENTURY    OF   GREAT    REFORMERS 

Amos  and  His  Successors 

We  have  traced  the  origin  of  the  writings  which  were 
finally  combined  in  the  Torah  and  which  we  call  the 
Pentateuch.  The  larger  part  of  the  historical  narratives 
in  these  writings  was  by  prophets,  followers  of  EHjah 
and  Elisha.  We  will  now  learn  something  of  a  whole 
series  of  books  by  the  Hebrew  prophets,  which  are  found 
in  other  parts  of  the  Old  Testament.  These  writings 
were  gathered  together  by  the.  later  Jews  in  a  second 
collection  called  ''  The  Prophets  "  which  they  reverenced 
very  highly. 

The  Earliest  Prophets 

The  word  prophet  is  applied  to  a  number  of  important 
Biblical  characters,  such  as  Elijah  and  -Isaiah.  What 
was  the  original  meaning  of  the  terms,  "  prophets  *'  and 
''  prophesy,"  and  how  did  it  happen  that  these  men  called 
prophets  played  so  prominent  a  part  in  Hebrew  history? 

In  the  earliest  times,  there  was  Httle  difference  between 
the  Hebrew  prophets  and  the  same  class  of  men  in  other 
nations  of  that  day,  for  we  must  not  make  the  mistake 
of  supposing  that  there  were  no  prophets  in  any  nation 
except  among  the  Hebrews.  We  can  best  understand 
what  sort  of  men  they  were  by  thinking  of  the  "  whirling 
dervishes"  in  Mohammedan  countries  today.  These 
dervishes  work  themselves  into  a  state  of  extraordinary 
excitement  through  music  and  dancing,  and  often  throw 
themselves  into  a  kind  of  trance.  In  this  condition, 
it  is  believed  by  the  people  that  they  are  possessed  by 
some  spirit  or  deity.  In  I  Kings  18:  26-28,  we  read  how 
some  of  the  earliest  prophets  leaped  about  the  altar  of 

105 


106  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

their  god,  uttering  their  cries,  and  gashing  themselves 
with  knives.  These  were  prophets  of  Baal,  rather  than 
of  Jehovah,  but  in  II  Kings  3: 15,  we  find  that  Elisha 
also  resorted  to  the  influence  of  music  to  bring  on  a  con- 
dition of  excitement. 

All  of  the  early  prophets  in  Israel  and  elsewhere  earned 
their  living  as  professional  soothsayers.  People  came  to 
them,  just  as  men  visited  the  oracles  in  Greece,  for  help 
in  finding  lost  articles  and  for  advice  regarding  love 
affairs,  journeys,  business  adventures  and  military  cam- 
paigns. No  doubt  EHjah  and  Elisha  supported  them- 
selves in  this  manner. 

As  time  went  on  there  came  to  be  a  vital  difference 
between  certain  prophets  in  Israel  and  the  great  mass  of 
the  prophets  in  Israel  and  in  other  nations.  These  new 
prophets,  of  whom  Elijah  was  a  forerunner,  were  not 
mere  fortune-tellers,  but  preachers.  The  true  meaning 
of  the  word  prophet  is  ''one  who  speaks  for  another"; 
that  is,  the  true  prophets  were  spokesmen  for  Jehovah. 
They  told  the  people  that  Jehovah  was  not  pleased  with 
their  manner  of  living.  These  men  were  to  the  nation 
what  the  voice  of  conscience  is  to  each  individual.  If 
they  were  alive  today  we  would  call  them  reformers; 
for  they  tried  to  do  for  the  Hebrews  what  true  reformers 
today  are  trying  to  do ;  that  is,  to  make  the  world  a  better 
place  to  live  in  and  to  hasten  the  triumph  of  love  and 
justice  for  all.  The  great  epoch  during  which  these 
men  lived  and  worked  began  about  a  hundred  years  after 
Elijah's  time,  or  about  750  B.C. 

The  most  important  fact  in  the  year  750  B.C.,  from 
the  standpoint  of  Hebrew  history,  was  the  new  world- 
empire  Assyria,  with  its  capital  at  Nineveh  then  rising 
to  the  zenith  of  its  power.  It  had  already  conquered 
the  old  Babylonian  kingdom  and  its  emperors  were 
looking  westward  with  covetous  eyes  to  the  rich  countries 
along  the  Mediterranean.  Sooner  or  later,  driven  by 
the  lust  of  conquest,  their  armies  would  be  knocking  at 


A  CENTURY  OF  GREAT  REFORMERS  107 

the  gates  of  Damascus,  Tyre  and  perhaps    Samaria  and 
Jerusalem  also. 

A  New  Epoch  in  Israel's  History 

Let  us  imagine  ourselves  visiting  the  city  of  Samaria 
sometime  about  the  year  750  B.C.  It  is  a  beautiful 
city,  crowning  a  low  hill,  and  surrounded  by  fertile  and 
lovely  valleys.  We  find  many  fine  houses  and  beautiful 
streets.  Many  of  the  nobles  and  wealthy  merchants 
have  both  summer  and  winter  houses.  The  country 
is  prosperous.  The  reigning  king,  Jeroboam  II,  has 
been  on  the  throne  for  nearly  fifty  years,  and  has  been 
victorious  over  all  the  petty  foes  of  the  Israelites,  such 
as  the  Ammonites  and  the  Philistines.  As  a  result, 
the  upper  classes  have  grown  wealthy.  Their  homes 
are  filled  with  all  the  luxuries  of  Babylon,  such  as  inlaid 
ivory  furniture,  silken  robes,  rare  and  costly  wines  and 
perfumes.  At  the  same  time,  we  notice  that  Samaria 
has  its  poorer  quarters,  its  slums.  Here  we  find  people 
living  in  wretched  hovels.  The  children's  faces  are  pale 
and  gaunt  with  hunger.  Clearly  enough,  a  few  unscrupu- 
lous nobles  have  been  enriching  themselves  at  the  expense 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people.  They  have  cheated  in 
business,  and  have  oppressed  the  poor;  they  have  bribed 
the  judges  who  might  otherwise  have  restrained  them. 
Yet  because  they  bring  rich  offerings  as  sacrifices  to  the 
shrines,  they  feel  confident  that  Jehovah  will  protect 
them.  But  with  such  evils  as  these  eating  away  the 
strength  of  the  nation,  what  will  happen  when  the  As- 
syrians lay  siege  to  the  gates  of  Samaria  ? 

A  New  Book  on  the  Library  Table 

Let  us  imagine  ourselves  guests  at  the  home  of  one  of 
King  Jeroboam's  nobles.  Let  us  call  him  Azariah.  As 
we  are  educated  people,  he  shows  us  his  collection  of 
books,  which  are  in  the  form  of  leather  rolls.  Here  is 
the  book  of  Jashar,  with  its  war-ballads.  Here  is  the 
History  of  Israel  from  Adam  to  David.     And  here  is 


108  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

a  new  book.  At  the  beginning  we  find  the  following 
title:  The  Words  of  Amos,  Who  was  Among  the  Shepherds 
of  Tekoa,  Which  he  saw  Concerning  Israel  in  the  Days  of 
Jeroboam  the  Son  of  Joash,  King  of  Israel,  ''  What  is  this 
book,  my  friend?"  we  ask.  **Why,  that  is  a  collection  of 
the  speeches  of  a  new  prophet  who  made  a  sensation 
over  at  the  royal  temple  at  Bethel  last  year.  You  know 
the  king  each  year  attends  the  Passover  feast  at  Bethel 
and  all  the  fashionable  folks  go  there  to  sacrifice.  This  old 
prophet  came  up  from  Judah.  He  had  been  a  shepherd 
most  of  his  life,  and  still  wore  the  shepherd's  costume. 
He  came  stalking  in  among  the  richly  dressed  people 
and  made  speeches  there  for  several  days.  Finally  he 
spoke  against  King  Jeroboam;  and  of  course  the  chief 
priest  Amaziah  drove  him  away.  So  he  wrote  out  what 
he  had  to  say,  and  a  great  many  of  us  have  copies.  I 
was  interested  because  I  thought  the  man  might  be 
starting  a  revolution.  He  kept  saying  that  '  the  sword 
would  devour  in  our  cities.'  Jeroboam  hasn't  treated 
me  properly,  and  I  would  like  nothing  better  than  to 
see  some  prophet  send  him  flying  from  his  palace,  as 
Elisha  overthrew  the  dynasty  of  Ahab.  I  am  disap- 
pointed in  the  book,  however.  It  is  full  of  crazy  nonsense 
about  the  wrongs  of  the  poor.  He  also  seems  to  have 
objections  to  our  sacrifices.  I  cannot  imagine  what 
can  be  lacking  in  them.  I  myself  send  a  hundred  fat 
rams  to  Bethel  every  year,  and  some  of  the  other  nobles 
send  many  more." 

It  is  quite  plain  that  Azariah  has  no  very  clear  appre- 
ciation of  the  aims  of  this  new  prophet.  So  let  us  read 
the  book  for  ourselves.  Among  the  more  prominent 
ideas  we  find  one  which  is  not  new,  namely,  that  Jehovah, 
is  displeased  with  injustice,  especially  injustice  toward 
the  lowly.  We  are  thrilled,  however,  by  the  eloquence 
with  which  the  idea  is  expressed,  and  we  are  astonished 
by  the  boldness  with  which  the  prophet  threatens  the 
wrongdoers,  especially  those  of  the  wealthy  and  powerful 


A  CENTURY  OF  GREAT  REFORMERS  109 

class,  with  destruction  for  their  sins.     (See  Amos   2:6; 
5:11-12.) 

A  Revolutionary  Idea 

This  idea  that  Jehovah  will  avenge  injustice  toward 
the  weak  had  already  been  proclaimed  by  the  early 
story-tellers  and  law-givers  and  by  Moses  himself.  There 
is  another  prominent  idea  in  the  book,  however,  which  is 
absolutely  new,  original  and  revolutionary.  This  idea 
is  as  follows :  Jehovah  does  not  require  ceremonial  sacrifices, 
but  only  justice  and  righteousness.  *'  Thus  saith 
Jehovah,"  declares  Amos,  in  sentences  of  surpassing 
force  and  grandeur. 

"  I  hate,  I  despise  your  feasts, 

And  I  will  not  smell  the  savor  of  your  festivals, 

And  with  your  cereal-offerings  I  will  not  be  pleased, 

And  the  peace-offerings  of  your  fatlings  I  will  not  regard  with 

favor. 
Banish  from  me  the  noise  of  your  songs. 
For  to  the  melody  of  your  lyres,  I  will  not  listen. 
But  let  justice  roll  on  as  a  flood  of  waters. 
And  righteousness,  like  an  imfailing  stream."    (Amos  5:  21-24.) 

Three  Great  Successors  of  Amos:  Hosea, 
Isaiah,  Micah 
This  century  in  which  Amos  lived  (800-700  B.C.) 
was  one  of  the  great  epochs  in  the  history  of  God's  revela- 
tion of  Himself  to  mankind.  It  is  illumined  and  glorified 
by  the  names  of  four  supremely  great  prophets,  of  whom 
Amos  was  the  first.  The  other  three  were  Hosea,  Isaiah 
and  Micah.  Hosea,  like  Amos,  delivered  his  message 
in  northern  Israel.  He  was  a  native  of  the  North,  whereas 
Amos  came  from  Judah.  Isaiah  and  Micah  were  also 
natives  of  Judah  and  spent  their  lives  in  the  southern 
kingdom,  in  the  latter  part  of  the  century.  All  four 
of  them  agreed  with  Amos  that  God  requires,  not  sacri- 
fices, but  righteousness.  Hosea  expressed  it  in  memorable 
words  which  w^re  quoted  by  Jesus : 


110  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

"It  is  love  that  I  delight  in  (saith  Jehovah),  and  not  sacrifice, 
And  knowledge  of  God,  and  not  burnt-offerings."     (See  Hosea 
6:6,  and  Matt.  12:7.) 

Isaiah  takes  up  the  message  as  follows : 
*'What  care  I  for  the  vast  number  of  your  sacrifices,  saith 

Jehovah. 
I  am  sated  with  burnt-offerings  of  rams  and  the  fat  of  fed 

beasts. 
And  in  the  blood  of  bullocks  and  lambs  and  he-goats  I  take 

no  pleasure. ' '     (Isa.  1:11.) 

Perhaps  the  most  perfect  expression  of  this  teaching 
of  these  great  religious  pioneers  is  found  in  the  sermons 
of  the  prophet  Micah: 

"  It  hath  been  shown  thee,  O  man,  what  is  good. 

And  what  Jehovah  ever  demands  of  thee : 

Only  to  do  justice  and  love  mercy, 

And  to  walk  himibly  with  thy  God."     (Micah  6 : 6-8.) 

Righteousness  vs.  Ritual  in  Later  Centuries 

The  prophets  apparently  made  little  immediate  im- 
pression on  the  ideas  and  habits  of  their  fellow-men. 
Religion  still  consisted  largely  in  burnt-offerings  at  Bethel 
and  Gilgal,  and  elsewhere.  The  later  Jerusalem  priests 
built  up  a  more  and  more  elaborate  system  of  animal 
sacrifices.  It  is  the  common  fate  of  great  and  original 
leaders  that  their  followers  modify  their  deepest  and 
noblest  ideas  in  conformity  with  the  commonly  accepted 
opinions  of  the  time.  They  cherish  the  great  master's 
words  but  ignore  his  plain  meaning.  Nevertheless  the 
prophets  did  not  speak  in  vain.  The  revised  law-book, 
Deuteronomy,  which  was  written  in  the  next  century 
after  Amos,  abolished  all  the  temples  outside  of  Jerusalem 
and  stipulated  that  no  sacrifices  should  be  offered  except 
in  the  temple  at  Jerusalem.  The  great  Prophet  of  Naza- 
reth set  His  stamp  of  approval  on  the  good  Samaritan  who 
showed  mercy  on  his  wounded  fellow-traveller,  rather 
than  on  the  priest  and  the  Levite  who  offered  burnt- 
offerings  every  day,  but  who  ''  passed  by  on  the  other 


A  CENTURY  OF  GREAT  REFORMERS  111 

side."  In  our  own  time,  the  writings  of  these  prophets 
are  being  studied  as  perhaps  never  before  in  the  history 
of  the  world.  We  are  accepting  for  our  own  nation  the 
ideal  which  Amos  held  up  before  the  nation  of  Israel. 

"  Let  justice  roll  on  as  a  flood  of  waters, 
And  righteousness  as  an  unfailing  stream/'    (Amos  5 :  24.) 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

A  FORGIVING  HUSBAND  WHO  TOLD  OF  GOD'S 

MERCY 

The  Book  of  Hosea 
A  Village  Love-Story 

While  the  young  man  Amos  was  keeping  sheep  in  Tekoa, 
a  lad  named  Hosea  was  growing  up  in  a  village  in  Northern 
Israel,  probably  across  the  river  Jordan  in  the  land  of 
Gilead.  He  was  affectionate,  sweet-spirited,  strong  in 
mind  and  body.  Not  far  away,  perhaps  in  a  neighboring 
village,  there  lived  a  maiden  named  Gomer.  She  also 
was  lovable  in  many  ways.  One  day  she  met  Hosea, 
and  they  loved  each  other.  We  can  imagine  the  happi- 
ness of  their  courtship.  Near  the  probable  site  of  Hosea's 
village,  there  is  a  hill  whose  bold  bluffs  overlook  the 
broad  valley  of  the  Jordan.  We  can  imagine  Hosea 
and  Gomer  walking  together  in  the  beautiful  days  of 
spring  or  summer,  along  the  brow  of  this  hill,  and  looking 
off  across  those  broad,  fertile  fields  and  vineclad  slopes 
of  Northern  Israel,  and  promising  to  be  true  to  each  other 
so  long  as  life  should  last. 

An  Unhappy  Marriage 

After  the  wedding  day  Gomer  began  to  reveal  an  im- 
suspected  weakness  of  character.  She  had  always  been 
allowed  to  have  her  own  sweet  will  in  everything,  and 
had  never  learned  the  lesson  of  self-control.  So  now  she 
showed  herself  unfit  for  the  serious  responsibilities  of 
married  hfe.  When  children  were  bom,  she  no  doubt 
neglected  them.  No  doubt  she  wasted  her  husband's 
money,  and  bitterly  reproached  him  because  he  could 
not  buy  jewels  for  her,  and  fashionable  garments  such  as 

112 


A  FORGIVING  HUSBAND  113 

some  of  her  former  girl  friends  possessed.  She  had  no 
sympathy  for  Hosea's  deeper  purposes  and  ideals.  Hosea 
felt  in  his  heart  that  he  had  a  mission  in  life.  He  had 
become  a  prophet,  and  like  Amos  was  urging  his  country- 
men to  forsake  their  evil  ways  and  obey  the  righteous 
commands  of  Jehovah.  Gomer,  however,  cared  for 
none  of  these  things.  Her  thoughts  were  all  on  the  pleas- 
ures of  the  passing  moment.  By  and  by  the  evil  shadow 
of  a  tempter  fell  across  her  path.  Luxuries  were  promised 
her,  if  she  would  forsake  this  tiresome  preacher  and  his 
simple  home.     So  it  came  to  pass  that  they  were  separated. 

A  Love  which  Could  Not  be  Conquered 

Thus  Hosea's  home  was  wrecked,  and  his  heart  was 
heavy.  He  had  tried  so  faithfully  to  be  kind  to  Gomer, 
and  how  faithless  she  had  proved!  Many  times  he  wished 
with  all  his  heart  that  he  had  never  seen  her.  Years 
passed,  and  he  saw  nothing  of  her.  Then  one  day,  per- 
haps as  he  was  passing  through  another  village  on  a 
preaching  tour,  he  found  her.  Poor  woman!  her  life 
had  not  been  as  she  had  planned.  She  had  sought  for 
pleasure  and  had  found  pain.  She  was  now  a  slave. 
No  doubt  she  tried  to  avoid  Hosea  when  she  saw  him 
approaching,  but  his  quick  eyes  were  too  swift  for  her. 
To  his  surprise,  he  felt  in  his  heart  a  great  wave  of  the 
old  love.  She  was  still  his  Gomer,  the  maid  whom  he 
had  loved  in  Gilead.  "  Come,  Gomer,"  he  said,  as  she 
stood  before  him  with  downcast  eyes.  ''  Let  us  go  home." 
*'  I  cannot,"  she  answered,  ''  I  am  a  slave."  Inquiring 
for  her  master,  Hosea  arranged  to  buy  her  for  about 
the  usual  price  of  a  slave,  "  fifteen  pieces  of  silver,  and 
eight  bushels  of  barley  and  a  measure  of  barley."  Then 
he  took  her  back  with  him,  and  she  came  once  again 
through  their  little  cottage  door.  Did  she  stay?  Was 
she  faithful  to  him,  now?  Had  she  learned  her  lesson? 
We  can  only  say  that  after  being  so  generously  and  nobly 
forgiven,    surely   she   must   have    proved    faithful;    we 


114  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

have,  however,  no  definite  information  to  confirm  us  in 
this  conclusion. 

Hosea's  Discovery:  the  Forgiving  Love  of  God 

Whether  or  not  Gomer  learned  her  lesson,  there  was 
also  a  lesson  for  Hosea  in  all  this,  and  he  was  great  enough 
to  see  it.  As  a  result  of  the  impulse  to  forgive  this  woman 
who  had  been  false  to  him,  the  thought  flashed  into  his 
mind  that  Jehovah  would  be  no  less  ready  to  forgive 
His  people,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  they  had  worshipped 
other  gods,  and  had  disobeyed  His  laws.  A  change  now 
showed  itself  in  the  tone  of  Hosea's  addresses  to  the 
people.  He  continued  to  denounce  unsparingly  the  sins 
of  his  countrymen,  yet  he  grew  more  tender  toward  them. 
(See  Hosea  4: 1-2.) 

Again  and  again  Hosea  declared  that  Jehovah  would 
surely  punish  the  nation  for  these  dreadful  wrongs.  Like 
Amos,  he  foresaw  that  the  armies  of  the  great  empire 
Assyria  were  likely  to  invade  Palestine,  bringing  with 
them  all  the  horrible  atrocities  of  ancient  warfare.  This, 
he  believed,  would  be  Jehovah's  way  of  punishing  guilty 
Israel.     (See  Hosea  13:16.) 

This  punishment,  however,  according  to  Hosea,  would 
not  mean  that  Jehovah  had  ceased  to  love  His  people. 
On  the  contrary  he  taught  that  Jehovah  sends  punishment 
with  a  breaking  heart. 

"  How  can  I  give  thee  up,  O  Ephraim! "  (saith  Jehovah.) 
"  How  can  I  give  thee  over,  O  Israel! "  (Hosea  11:8.) 

Hosea  also  declared  that  through  punishment  Jehovah 
was  seeking  to  cure  His  people  of  their  sin.  Led  away 
as  exiles  by  the  King  of  Assyria,  their  hearts  might 
perhaps  be  won  back  at  last  to  their  God.  In  short, 
Hosea's  sad  experience  with  Gomer  made  him  the  great 
prophet  who  first  proclaimed  God's  infinite  love  even  for 
sinners,  and  His  readiness  to  forgive  the  penitent. 


A  FORGIVING  HUSBAND  115 

The  Great  Need  of  the  People  of  Israel:  True 

Worship 

There  was  another  lesson  which  grew  out  of  Hosea's 
own  bitter  personal  experience.  Since  God  loved  Israel 
with  so  marvelous  a  love,  then  failure  to  love  Him  and 
worship  Him  in  return  is  the  greatest  of  all  sins.  In 
this  matter  Hosea  supplemented  the  teachings  of  his 
great  contemporary,  Amos.  The  attention  of  the  latter 
prophet  had  been  chiefly  fixed  on  the  wrongs  of  men 
against  other  men.  His  heart  had  burned  with  indigna- 
tion and  pity,  in  view  of  the  glaring  acts  of  injustice 
which  were  constantly  practiced  by  the  rich  and  powerful 
at  the  expense  of  the  poor  and  lowly.  Hosea  also 
preached  against  the  lies,  the  thefts  and  the  murders 
of  his  countrymen,  but  he  saw  more  clearly  than  Amos 
that  the  root-sin  from  which  all  these  others  sprang  was 
that  they  had  turned  their  hearts  away  from  God.  They 
were  lacking  in  true  worship.  "  There  is  none  among 
them  who  calls  to  me  "  (saith  Jehovah).  (Hosea  7:7.) 

"  They  do  not  return  to  Jehovah  their  God. "     (Hosea  7 :  10.) 
''They  have  never  cried  to  me  with  their  heart."     (Hosea 
7:14.) 

There  was  an  abundance  of  so-called  worship,  but  it 
was  carried  on  merely  for  the  sake  of  the  material  blessings 
which  they  thought  would  follow.  It  was  like  the  ''  cup- 
board love  "  of  kittens  purring  for  cream. 

*'  They  have  never  cried  to  me  with  their  heart; 
But  they  are  ever  howling  beside  their  altars  for  com  and 
new  wine."     (Hosea  7: 14.) 

When  they  thought  they  could  secure  these  material 
blessings  by  idolatrous  worship,  then  they  worshipped 
other  gods.     (Hosea  2 :  5.) 

Even  as  Gomer  had  cared  only  for  pleasures,  and  had 
abandoned  Hosea  because  he  could  not  lavish  money 
upon  her,  so  the  people  of  Israel  thought  only  of  material 
enjoyments.  Just  as  Gomer  had  failed  to  appreciate 
the  higher  blessing  of  a  life-long  comradeship  with  a 


116  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

noble  soul  like  Hosea,  so  the  Israelites  cared  nothing 
for  the  one  supreme  blessing  of  life,  loving  companionship 
with  God.  Hosea  saw  that  the  deepest  and  most  urgent 
need  of  the  people  was  a  renewal  of  true  spiritual  worship ; 
not  outward  forms  and  ceremonies,  but  a  genuine  ''  crying 
unto  Jehovah,"  a  genuine  seeking  after  God  in  prayer. 
From  this  would  follow,  as  a  natural  result,  right  conduct 
between  man  and  man.  In  his  dreams  of  a  better  future, 
when  Israel  should  have  been  chastened  through  suffer- 
ing, the  sweetest  thought  to  Hosea  is  that  Israel  and 
her  God  would  then  be  reconciled. 

The  Influence  of  Hosea 

In  order  to  gain  a  wider  hearing  for  his  message,  Hosea 
wrote  down  in  a  book  a  series  of  extracts  from  his  oral 
addresses.  Many  copies  of  this  book  doubtless  found 
their  way  to  the  library  tables  of  the  time,  along  with 
the  "  Words  of  Amos."  If  the  prophetical  books  of 
the  Old  Testament  were  arranged  in  chronological  order, 
Amos  and  Hosea  would  stand  side  by  side  at  the  head 
of  the  list.  Of  the  two,  Amos  was  probably  written  several 
years  earlier. 

Hosea  no  doubt  hoped,  as  did  Amos,  that  his  book 
would  help  to  bring  his  countrymen  to  their  senses  in 
time  to  ward  off  the  approaching  disaster.  He  certainly 
succeeded  in  making  a  deep  impression  upon  a  few  in- 
dividuals. But  the  nation  as  a  whole  went  rapidly 
from  bad  to  worse.  The  powerful  Jeroboam  II  died  in 
740  B.C.  A  period  of  anarchy  immediately  set  in;  many 
of  Hosea's  addresses  were  written  during  this  period  of 
anarchy;  assassinations  followed  each  other  in  quick 
succession,  and  the  nation  fell  an  easy  prey  to  the  As- 
syrian conquerors.  In  725  B.C.  the  Assyrian  emperor 
Shalmaneser  laid  siege  to  the  city  of  Samaria,  and  after 
three  years  in  722  B.C.  it  was  captured  by  Sargon,  his 
successor.  The  sword  did  indeed  ''  whirl  in  Samaria," 
as  Hosea  had  foretold.     Over  twenty  thousand  of  its 


A  FORGIVING  HUSBAND  117 

inhabitants  were  led  away  as  captives,  never  to  return. 
In  the  words  of  Amos, 

''  The  virgin  Israel  had  fallen,  no  more  to  rise." 

Had  it  not  been  for  the  Httle  kingdom  of  Judah,  which 
still  remained  intact,  the  religion  of  Jehovah  might  at 
this  time  have  perished  from  the  earth.  Fortunately, 
however,  a  few  refugees,  believers  in  the  message  of  Amos 
and  Hosea,  brought  with  them  into  Judah  as  their  most 
cherished  possessions,  whatever  writings  by  the  prophets 
they  may  have  had,  including  ''  the  Words  of  Amos," 
and  '*  the  Words  of  Hosea."  These  writings  played  a 
great  part  in  the  future  history  of  Judah.  Other  prophets, 
such  as  Isaiah  and  Micah,  were  inspired  by  them,  took 
up  their  message,  and  carried  on  in  Judah  the  work 
which  had  been  iDcgun  in  Northern  Israel.  The  book 
of  Hosea  was  especially  influential.  Jesus  himself  quoted 
from  it,  and  the  glad  tidings  of  the  Father's  love  for  His 
sinful  children,  which  was  the  heart  of  Jesus'  message, 
was  but  the  crown  and  completion  of  Hosea 's  great 
discovery  of  Jehovah's  love  for  sinful  Israel. 


CHAPTER  XIX 
THE  COUNSELS  OF  A  STATESMAN-PROPHET 

The  Writings  of  Isaiah 

Amos  and  Hosea  spoke  their  messages  of  warning  in 
the  northern  kingdom,  while  that  nation  was  hastening 
toward  its  tragic  fall.  Meanwhile,  similar  dangers  were 
threatening  her  sister  kingdom,  Judah,  in  the  south. 
The  same  Assyrian  armies  that  besieged  and  captured 
Samaria  in  722  B.C.  might  easily  have  gone  on  and 
captured  Jerusalem.  The  native  strength  of  Judah, 
as  of  Northern  Israel,  was  being  eaten  away  by  vice  and 
injustice.  In  the  early  part  of  the  century  (from  782 
to  about  737  B.C.),  Judah  was  fortunate  in  having  an 
able  and  upright  king,  whose  name  was  Uzziah.  We 
read  in  II  Kings  15:3,  that  he  "did  that  which  was 
right  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah.'*  No  doubt  he  restrained 
to  some  extent  the  evil  tendencies  of  his  corrupt  nobles. 
The  years  passed,  however,  and  Uzziah  grew  old  and 
feeble,  while  Assyria  became  more  and  more  aggressive. 
What  would  become  of  the  nation  after  Uzziah's  death? 
Would  the  crown  prince  Jotham  prove  to  be  a  wise  king 
like  his  father?     No  one  knew. 

During  these  closing  years  of  Uzziah's  reign,  a  young 
lad  named  Isaiah  was  growing  to  manhood  in  Jerusalem. 
He  was  probably  a  member  of  a  prominent  family, 
perhaps  even  related  to  the  king.  He  may  have  listened 
to  addresses  by  Amos  and  Hosea,  while  visiting  in  the 
North.  At  any  rate,  he  had  copies  of  their  writings, 
and  was  deeply  influenced  by  them.  For  a  long  time  he 
brooded  over  the  dangers  which  were  threatening  his 
beloved  Judah.  Then  came  the  year  of  King  Uzziah's 
death.     One  day,  during  that  year  of  anxiety  and  sus- 

118 


COUNSELS  OF  A  STATESMAN-PROPHET    119 

pense,  Isaiah  went  to  the  temple  to  worship.  As  he 
stood  praying,  there  came  to  him  the  great  experience 
of  his  life.     (Isa.  6.) 

In  the  dim  Hght  of  the  temple  interior,  he  seemed  to 
see  Jehovah  himself  sitting  on  a  lofty  throne.  At  first 
the  vision  brought  to  him  only  a  deep  sense  of  his  ovm 
sin  and  un worthiness.  He  cried  out,  "  Woe  is  me,  for 
I  am  a  man  of  unclean  lips,  and  I  dwell  in  the  midst 
of  a  people  of  unclean  lips."  Soon,  however,  the  vision 
seemed  to  purge  away  his  sins,  as  fire  purges  away  w^hat- 
ever  is  foul  and  unclean.  With  this  new  sense  of  God's 
forgiveness  came  an  impulse  to  go  and  tell  his  countr^^- 
men  of  the  Holy  One  of  Israel,  whom  he  himself  had  seen 
with  the  eyes  of  his  soul.  He  felt  like  shouting  from  the 
housetop,  "  Jehovah  can  save  us  if  we  will  but  turn  to 
Him  and  trust  in  Him."  In  all  this  he  was  hearing  the 
voice  of  Jehovah  in  his  heart,  saying  **  Whom  shall  I 
send,  and  who  wiU  go  for  us?"  And  he  answered,  *'  Here 
am  I;  send  me."  Thus  Isaiah  became  a  prophet,  and 
came  to  the  help  of  his  people  in  their  hour  of  need. 

Isaiah's  Message  as  a  Preacher 

In  many  ways  Isaiah's  work  was  a  continuation  of  the 
work  of  his  predecessors.  Like  Amos,  he  denounced 
the  deeds  of  injustice  wherewith  the  rich  nobles  oppressed 
the  poor,  and  foretold  the  inevitable  punishment  imless 
they  should  repent.  Like  Amos,  he  declared  that  what 
Jehovah  desires  is  not  burnt  offerings  but  right  conduct 
toward  all  men.  Although  these  ideas  were  not  original 
with  Isaiah,  he  expressed  them  in  his  own  way,  and  in 
language  unsurpassed  for  beauty  and  force.  As  a  splen- 
did example  of  his  eloquence,  we  may  take  his  Song  of 
the  Vineyard.  This  was  probably  delivered  at  some 
public  festival,  when  the  people  were  being  entertained 
by  professional  singers  and  story-tellers.  (See  Isa. 
5:1-24.) 

Isaiah  also  took  up  Hosea's  message  of  the  loving 
forgiveness  of  God.     He  had  himself  experienced  that 


120  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

forgiveness  in  the  vision  of   God  which  made  him  a 
prophet.     So  he  calls  to  his  people  in  tender  accents: 

"  Come  now,  let  us  reason  together,  saith  Jehovah; 
Though  your  sins  be  as  scarlet,  they  shall  become  white  as  snow ; 
Though  they  be  as  red  as  crimson  they  shall  become  as  wool." 
(Isa.  1:18.) 

Like  Hosea,  he  believed  that  the  nation  would  be 
chastened  by  Jehovah's  punishment,  and  that  a  "  right- 
eous remnant  "  would  come  forth  from  the  fires  of  war 
and  exile,  to  be  in  very  truth  Jehovah's  holy  nation. 
(See  Isa.  1 :  25-26.) 

Isaiah  himself  did  what  he  could  to  organize  the  nucleus 
of  this  *'  righteous  remnant,"  by  gathering  a  group  of 
disciples,  and  carefully  instructing  them  in  the  true 
religion  of  Jehovah.  (See  Isa.  8:  16-17.)  No  doubt  they 
used  to  gather  in  his  house  in  groups  to  listen  to  his 
teaching,  and  to  ask  him  questions. 

Isaiah  as  a  Statesman 

In  these  ideas,  Isaiah  was  merely  carrying  on  the  work 
of  his  predecessors.  One  important  service  which  he 
rendered  to  his  countrymen  was,  however,  original  with 
him  and  that  was  the  wise  and  statesmanlike  counsel 
which  he  gave  to  those  in  authority  when  outside  enemies 
threatened  to  attack  the  nation.  At  such  times  most  of 
the  leading  men  in  Judah  were  eager  to  make  alliances 
with  other  nations  against  the  enemy.  Judah  was 
frequently  involved  in  the  long  series  of  conspiracies 
against  Assyria,  which  at  that  time  was  the  chief  enemy 
of  all  of  the  smaller  nations.  Messengers  came  again 
and  again  to  Jerusalem  from  the  Philistines,  from  Tyre 
and  Sidon,  from  Egypt  and  from  far  distant  Babylon, 
which  at  that  time  was  a  subject  state  under  Assyria. 

Egypt  was  at  the  bottom  of  most  of  these  plots,  for  sha 
was  jealous  of  the  Assyrian  power.  She  would  have 
preferred  to  send  her  own  tribute-collectors  among  these 
small  principalities.  The  king  of  Judah,  during  most 
of  this  period,  was   Hezekiah  (from  715    to  686  B.C.) 


An  AssjTian  Relief.     Battle  Scene,  the  Storming  of  a  City 

TYPICAL  ASSYRIAN  SCENES. 

From  Goodspeed's  "  Ancient  World." 


COUNSELS  OF  A  STATESMAN-PROPHET    121 

He  was  on  the  whole  a  good  ruler,  but  he  was  foolish 
enough  to  listen  to  many  of  these  delegations  of  envoys. 
It  must  be  remembered,  however,  that  these  were  years 
which  tried  men's  souls.  No  one  could  be  sure  but 
that  within  a  few  months  the  Assyrian  army  might  be 
laying  siege  to  Jerusalem.  Before  the  eyes  of  every 
one  there  hovered  the  dreadful  spectre  of  the  city  in 
flames,  blood  flowing  like  rivers  in  the  streets,  and  the 
soldiers  of  the  enemy,  more  like  wild  beasts  than  men, 
ravaging,  without  mercy,  in  every  home.  We  can  easily 
understand  why  Hezekiah  and  his  subjects  frequently 
became  panic-stricken,  and  were  tempted  to  believe  the 
fair-sounding  promises  of  the  envoys,  especially  those 
from  rich  and  powerful  Egypt.  All  the  more,  however, 
must  we  admire  the  calmness,  and  the  deep-rooted  faith 
in  God,  with  which  Isaiah  through  all  these  troubled 
years  gave  his  nation  the  following  wise  counsel:  ''Trust 
in  God,  and  keep  out  of  these  alliances." 

Isaiah  reasoned  that  most  of  these  nations  were  broken 
reeds  on  which  to  lean;  and  that  anyway  their  promises 
were  worthless.  Judah  would  be  thrown  to  the  wolves, 
the  moment  her  professed  allies  could  gain  any  advantage 
by  it.  Furthermore,  these  alliances  would  involve  the 
nation  in  wars  which  might  otherwise  be  avoided.  It  was 
a  small  country  situated  back  in  the  hills,  away  from  the 
main  highways  of  trade,  and  did  not  possess  great  wealth 
to  attract  the  invader.  Let  the  people  remain  quiet  in 
their  mountain  fastnesses,  minding  their  own  business 
and  trusting  in  God,  and  the  storms  of  war  might  pass 
to  one  side.     (See  Isa.  30: 1-7;  31: 1-3.) 

To  some  extent  Isaiah's  advice  seems  to  have  been 
heeded.  At  any  rate,  during  these  years,  Jerusalem 
escaped  pillage,  although  in  701  B.C.  many  of  the  smaller 
towns  in  Judah  were  captured  and  ravaged  by  the 
Assyrian  emperor,  Sennacherib. 


122  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Isaiah's  Statesmanship  Vindicated 
The  most  dramatic  incident  in  Isaiah's  career  as  a 
statesman  occurred  in  the  year  that  Sennacherib  set 
out  on  a  campaign  against  Egypt.  While  passing  down 
the  seacoast  west  of  Judah,  he  sent  messengers  to  Jeru- 
salem, demanding  the  surrender  of  the  city.  Probably 
he  did  not  like  the  idea  of  leaving  so  strong  a  fortress 
as  Jerusalem  in  his  rear,  and  hence  determined  to  frighten 
the  city  into  a  surrender,  if  possible,  and  then  break  down 
its  walls.  In  dismay,  Hezekiah  turned  to  Isaiah.  Once 
again  the  prophet  was  calm  when  everyone  else  was 
in  a  panic.  All  these  years,  he  had  been  saying  that 
if  Judah  would  keep  out  of  alliances  with  other  nations, 
and  trust  Jehovah,  they  would  be  kept  in  peace  and  safety. 
Now  came  the  test  of  his  faith.  At  this  time  Judah  had 
been  following  Isaiah's  advice  and  was  not  entangled 
in  any  coalition.  Would  Jehovah  do  His  part?  Isaiah's 
faith  did  not  flinch  from  the  test.  He  advised  Hezekiah 
to  pay  no  attention  to  Sennacherib's  insolent  demands. 
"  He  shall  not  come  into  this  city,  nor  shoot  an  arrow 
therein."  Jehovah,  he  said,  had  indeed  used  Assyria 
in  times  past  as  an  instrument  to  punish  sinful  Israel. 
But  now  Jehovah  would  punish  Assyria  herself,  for  her 
arrogant  pride.     (Isa.  10:15.) 

Isaiah's  predictions  were  fulfilled.  Sennacherib  quickly 
returned  to  Nineveh,  partly  because  he  found  that  the 
Egyptian  forces  were  stronger  than  he  had  supposed; 
and  also  because  a  terrible  pestilence  attacked  his  own 
army  as  they  were  encamped  near  the  low  marshes  on 
the  Egyptian  border. 

The  Book  of  Isaiah 
Like  Amos  and  Hosea,  Isaiah  from  time  to  time  put 
some  of  his  addresses  into  written  form.  In  his  later 
years  he  also  wrote  a  brief  account  of  some  of  his  earlier 
experiences  as  a  prophet.  These  writings  were  carefully 
cherished  by  his  followers,  especially  after  his  death, 
and  many  copies  were  made.     Sometimes  there  would 


COUNSELS  OF  A  STATESMAN-PROPHET     123 

be  a  little  space  left  at  the  end  of  a  book-roll.  It  is 
probable  that  the  owner  of  the  roll,  to  save  expense, 
would  frequently  use  this  space  for  copying  some  sermon 
or  address  by  another  prophet  than  Isaiah.  Thus  as 
time  went  on,  the  book  grew;  and  in  its  present  form  it 
seems  to  be  in  reality  a  collection  of  prophetical  writings 
by  a  number  of  different  authors.  It  was  still  known, 
however,  as  the  book  of  Isaiah,  although  the  words  of 
the  original  Isaiah  are  probably  found  only  in  the  first 
thirty-nine  chapters,  and,  chiefly,  in  chapters  1-13,  and 
28-32.  In  later  chapters  we  shall  learn  more  of  the 
other  writings  which  were  eventually  included  in  the  book. 


CHAPTER  XX 

A  GREAT  PROPHET  AND  HIS  FAITHFUL 
SECRETARY 

Baruch's  Record  of  Jeremiah's  Life 

After  the  four  great  prophets,  Amos,  Hosea,  Micah, 
and  Isaiah,  there  followed  a  time  when  the  people  went 
back  to  their  old  ways.  This  was  when  the  wicked  king 
Manasseh  was  on  the  throne  of  Judah.  (686-641  B.C.) 
Micah  and  Isaiah  had  been  fortunate  in  seeing  many 
of  their  teachings  accepted  and  obeyed,  especially  during 
the  reign  of  Hezekiah.  But  Manasseh  was  a  bad  son 
of  a  good  father.  Under  his  leadership,  the  people  even 
persecuted  those,  who  followed  the  teaching  of  the  proph- 
ets. Most  of  those  who  were  persecuted  remained 
steadfast.  But  it  was  not  until  the  latter  half  of  the 
century  (after  about  640  B.C.),  that  the  voice  of  the 
prophets  again  became  a  power  in  the  land.  In  639 
B.C.,  a  new  king  named  Josiah  came  to  the  throne.  He 
was  at  that  time  only  eight  years  old;  but  the  queen- 
mother  was  a  friend  of  the  prophets  and  encouraged  them 
in  their  work,  and  Josiah  was  trained  iii  the  same  attitude 
from  the  beginning.  At  this  time,  new  dangers  were 
threatening  the  nation  from  outside  her  borders.  Al- 
though the  Assyrian  empire  had  passed  the  zenith  of 
its  glory  and  was  destined  within  a  few  decades  to 
disappear  from  the  stage  of  history,  there  were  other 
strong  and  aggressive  nations  whose  ambitions  meant 
trouble  for  little  Judah.  Egypt  was  becoming  more 
dangerous,  for  after  centuries  of  misrule  and  anarchy 
a  strong  dynasty  had  come  into  power.  Most  important 
of  all,  the  old  kingdom  of  Babylon  was  coming  to  the 
front.     This  new  Babylonian  empire  conquered  Assyria, 

124 


A  GREAT  PROPHET  125 

and  Babylon,  instead  of  Nineveh,  became  the  world's 
chief  city.  Its  pomp  and  glory  made  it  one  of  the  wonders 
of  the  world.  The  danger  of  foreign  invasion  helped  to 
arrest  the  attention  of  the  people  of  Judah,  and  won  a 
hearing  for  the  prophets  as  the  spokesmen  of  Jehovah. 
There  were  four  prophets  during  this  period,  whose 
writings  are  preserved  under  their  names  in  the  Old 
Testament.  These  are  Zephaniah,  Nahum,  Habakkuk 
and  Jeremiah.  Of  these  four,  only  Jeremiah  belongs  in 
the  same  class  with  the  great  names  of  the  preceding 
century.  He  alone  was  a  genius  of  the  first  rank.  His 
career  extended  over  forty  years,  from  about  625  to  580 
B.C. 

Jeremiah's  Prophetic  Call  and  His  Early  Addresses 
Jeremiah  was  bom  in  Anathoth,  a  little  village  about 
an  hour's  walk  north  of  Jerusalem,  within  the  borders 
of  the  tribes  of  Benjamin.  Undoubtedly  he  possessed 
copies  of  the  writings  of  the  earlier  prophets  and  studied 
them  diligently.  He  seems  to  have  been  influenced  most 
deeply  by  Hosea.  As  he  read  these  books,  and  then 
observed  the  life  and  conduct  of  the  people  of  his  own 
time,  he  saw  that  the  same  evils  still  flourished  against 
which  those  great  men  had  fought.  Gradually  he  came 
to  feel  it  laid  upon  him  as  a  sacred  duty  that  he  should 
take  up  their  work  and  proclaim  anew  their  message. 
So  he  went  up  from  his  home  in  Anathoth  and  in  the 
public  squares  of  Jerusalem  began  his  career  as  a  preacher. 
Two  of  the  addresses  which  he  delivered  in  these  years 
have  been  preserved  in  the  early  part  of  the  book  which 
bears  his  name.  In  the  first  few  lines  of  quotation  below, 
the  prophet  puts  into  words  the  better  impulses  of  the 
nation,  which  he  hopes  to  be  able  to  arouse,  and  then  he 
gives  the  answer  of  Jehovah. 

The  prayer  of  the  Israelites: 

"A  voice  is  heard  on  the  bare  heights,  the  supplications  of  the 

weeping  Israelites: 
Behold  we  come  to  thee,  for  thou  art  Jehovah  our  God. 


126  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

We  would  lie  down  in  shame  and  let  confusion  cover  us. 

For  we  and  our  fathers  have  sinned  against  our  God,  from 

our  youth  even  to  this  day, 
And  we  have  not  heeded  the  voice  of  Jehovah  our  God." 

The  answer  of  Jehovah: 
"  If  thou  wilt  return,  O  Israel,  thou  mayest  return  to  me. 
And  if  thou  wilt  put  away  thy  vileness,  thou  shalt    not    be 

banished  from  my  presence."     Qer.  3:21-4: 1.) 

Partly  as  a  result  of  Jeremiah's  splendid  appeals  a  great 
reformation  was  carried  out  in  Judah.  At  the  command 
of  the  good  king  Josiah,  all  idols  and  idolatrous  altars 
were  destroyed  in  conformity  with  the  revised  law  book, 
Deuteronomy  (see  II  Kings  23).  Jeremiah  evidently 
was  not  entirely  satisfied  with  this  reformation,  for  it  is 
not  mentioned  in  any  of  his  writings. 

Probably  it  seemed  to  him  too  external  and  too  much 
a  matter  of  outward  form  rather  than  of  inward  thoughts 
and  motives.  Yet  for  king  Josiah  himself,  Jeremiah  felt 
a  warm  regard  as  one  "  who  executed  law  and  justice, 
and  judged  the  cause  of  the  poor  and  needy."  (Jer. 
22:15-16.) 

Another  Relapse  in  Judah.    The  Final  Harvest 

OF  Folly 
In  608  B.C.,  Josiah's  noble  reign  was  ended.  He  was 
killed  in  a  battle  with  the  Egyptians  near  Megiddo,  in 
central  Palestine.  His  son  Jehoiakim  was  placed  on 
the  throne  by  the  Egyptians  as  their  vassal.  He  was 
just  like  his  grandfather  Manasseh,  selfish,  dishonest, 
and  vain.  All  the  evil  elements  in  the  nation  were  now 
set  free,  to  do  their  worst.  The  new  king  was  chiefly 
interested  in  his  new  and  costly  palace  on  which  he 
compelled  his  subjects  to  labor  without  pay.  He  was 
utterly  without  wisdom  in  his  foreign  policy,  and  at  that 
time  wisdom  was  sorely  needed.  The  Egyptian  rule  in 
Palestine  came  to  an  end  in  605  B.C.,  through  the  great 
battle  of  Carchemish,  on  the  Euphrates.  Here  Necho, 
the    Egyptian  king,   was  defeated    by   Nebuchadrezzar 


A  GREAT  PROPHET  127 

of  Babylon,  and  for  the  next  half  century  Babylon  was 
mistress  of  southwestern  Asia.  On  the  whole,  the 
Babylonians  ruled  justly.  Nebuchadrezzar  ranks  with 
the  leading  monarchs  of  history.  Had  the  leaders  of 
Judah  been  willing  to  submit  to  his  authority,  Jerusalem 
might  have  survived  for  an  indefinite  period.  But 
Egypt  began  again  to  stir  up  rebellion  among  the  minor 
nations  in  Palestine.  Jeremiah  warned  the  king  and 
people  against  listening  to  the  promises  of  the  Egyptians. 
Nevertheless,  in  600  B.C.,  Jehoiakim  rebelled.  In  598, 
Nebuchadrezzar  was  besieging  Jerusalem  with  a  powerful 
army.  Jehoiakim  died  during  the  siege,  and  his  brother, 
Jehoiachin,  surrendered.  He  was  taken  away  to  Babylon 
as  a  captive  along  with  about  thirty  thousand  others, 
men,  women  and  children.  Nebuchadrezzar  did  not 
destroy  the  city  itself.  Another  brother  of  Jehoiakim, 
named  Zedekiah,  was  left  as  a  vassal  ruler. 

One  would  think  that  Judah  would  now  have  learned 
her  lesson,  but  there  was  a  group  of  selfish,  unprincipled 
nobles  who  seemed  bent  on  their  country's  complete 
ruin.  The  king,  Zedekiah,  was  a  well-meaning  man, 
and  a  friend  of  Jeremiah,  but  he  was  weak.  In  588 
B.C.,  encouraged  by  fine-sounding  promises  from  Egypt, 
the  nation  joined  with  the  Ammonites,  the  Moabites,  and 
the  Phoenicians  in  another  coalition  against  Babylon. 
Jeremiah  protested  against  such  an  alliance,  but  in  vain. 
In  586  B.C.,  Jerusalem  was  captured  by  the  Babylonians 
and  burned.  The  temple  was  destroyed  and  the  walls 
of  the  city  were  levelled  to  the  ground.  Zedekiah's 
eyes  were  put  out,  and  again  many  thousands  of  the 
inhabitants  were  led  away  as  exiles.  It  was  nearly  a 
century  before  hope  and  prosperity  began  to  return  to 
the  discouraged,  poverty-stricken  land. 

These  two  decades  were  as  a  living  death  to  Jeremiah. 
He  was  an  ardent  patriot,  but  he  was  compelled  to  \\itness 
his  nation's  ruin.  As  he  was  not  carried  away  into  exile 
by  the  Babylonians,  he  saw  everything  from  the  first 
siege  of  Jerusalem,  in  597,  until  the  end.     He  was  natur- 


128  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

ally  a  lover  of  peace,  and  craved  the  sympathy  and  good- 
will of  his  fellow-men,  yet  his  conscience  compelled  him 
to  continue  his  stem  denunciations.     (Jer.  20:  8-10.) 

Even  his  own  people  in  Anathoth  turned  against  him, 
and  joined  in  a  plot  to  kill  him.  During  the  last  siege 
of  Jerusalem,  he  was  hated  and  despised  as  a  traitor. 
Once  he  was  thrown  into  a  dungeon  to  perish,  and  was 
saved  only  by  the  friendliness  of  a  negro  servant.  His 
closing  years  were  spent  among  the  Jews  in  Egypt, 
and  according  to  tradition  he  was  killed  by  his  fellow- 
exiles,  whose  idolatrous  practices  he  had  rebuked.  Thus 
he  spent  his  life  in  an  apparently  fruitless  effort  to  save 
his  people  from  their  sins.  To  the  very  end,  his  life 
was  one  long  story  of  hardship  and  suffering. 

Jeremiah's  Valuable  Helper.    Baruch,  the 
Prophet  Scribe 

That  Jeremiah  was  able  to  keep  up  the  fight  so  long  and 
so  faithfully,  was  due  in  large  part  to  the  fact  that  during 
at  least  the  last  twenty  years  of  his  life  he  had  a  remark- 
able partner  in  his  work.  In  the  latter  part  of  Jehoiakim's 
reign,  about  600  B.  C,  Jeremiah  was  positively  forbidden 
to  speak  any  more  to  the  people,  but  he  was  not  the  man 
to  retire  from  the  fight  when  he  could  still  speak  through 
the  written  page.  Lil<:e  the  apostle  Paul,  he  was  not 
skilful  with  the  pen,  but  he  had  a  friend  named  Baruch, 
who  had  been  trained  as  a  scribe,  and  who  was  himself 
a  prophet  and  a  good  pubhc  speaker.  So  Jeremiah 
dictated  to  Baruch  a  number  of  his  addresses.  Then  on 
a  certain  fast  day,  when  a  large  gathering  had  assembled 
in  the  temple  court,  Baruch  took  the  written  roll,  and 
read  it  before  the  people.  He  made  a  deep  impression 
on  his  hearers,  all  the  deeper  because  of  the  reverence 
with  which  all  writings  were  then  regarded.  Some  of 
the  better  class  of  nobles  who  were  in  the  gathering 
borrowed  the  roll  and  read  it  before  the  king.  It  was 
a  chilly  day  in  winter,  and  a  charcoal  fire  was  burning 
in  an  open  brazier  near  the  king's  chair.     From  time  to 


A  GREAT  PROPHET  129 

time,  as  the  reader  finished  a  column  of  the  writing, 
Jehoiakim  reached  forward  and  cut  off  that  portion  of 
the  roll,  and  in  spite  of  the  protests  of  some  who  were 
present,  threw  it  on  the  fire.  Thus  the  entire  roll  was 
burned.  Jeremiah,  however,  dictated  a  second  and 
longer  manuscript,  containing  the  addresses  that  had 
been  burned  and  a  number  of  others.  No  doubt  Baruch 
was  able  to  read  these  addresses  to  many  groups  of 
listeners.  This  was  the  beginning  of  a  long  partnership. 
It  was  surely  fortunate  that  these  two  men  were  thus 
brought  together.  To  a  large  extent,  Baruch  became 
Jeremiah's  mouthpiece. 

The  Book  of  Baruch 

Although  Jeremiah's  work  seemed  comparatively  fruit- 
less while  he  was  alive,  yet  few  if  any  of  the  prophets 
wielded  a  greater  influence  on  subsequent  generations. 
This  was  due  to  a  book  which  Baruch  prepared  about  his 
great  friend  and  teacher.  The  nucleus  of  this  book  was 
the  second  collection  of  addresses  which  he  had  made 
after  Jehoiakim  burned  the  first  one.  To  these  addresses, 
Baruch  added  others  including  probably  some  extracts 
from  a  diary  which  Jeremiah  had  kept.  Furthermore, 
he  wrote  a  brief  biography  of  the  man,  telling  of  the  most 
important  events  in  his  career.  He  told  of  the  conflict 
with  the  false  prophets,  who  kept  saying  to  the  people, 
"  Peace,  peace,  when  there  is  no  peace."     (Jer.  6: 14.) 

He  told  of  a  sensational  speech  which  Jeremiah  once 
made  in  the  temple  court,  when  he  actually  likened  the 
temple  itself  to  a  den  of  robbers,  because  of  the  rich  and 
wicked  nobles  who  were  frequently  seen  offering  sacrifices 
there  and  who  thought  the  city  was  safe  from  Jehovah's 
punishment,  because  '*  the  temple  of  Jehovah  is  here." 
Jeremiah,  on  the  contrary,  declared  that  the  temple  itself 
would  be  destroyed,  along  with  the  rest  of  the  city,  if 
its  leaders  continued  to  steal  and  He,  and  murder  and 
commit  adultery.  Baruch  tells  us  that  Jeremiah  was 
arrested  and  put  on  trial  for  his  life  as  a  result  of  this 


130  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

speech,  and  only  escaped  because  he  had  one  influential 
friend  among  the  nobles.  (See  Jer.  26 : 1-24.)  This 
remarkable  biography  also  tells  of  the  dramatic  object 
lessons  with  which  Jeremiah  sought  to  compel  the  at- 
tention of  the  people  and  to  impress  the  truth  upon 
their  minds.  It  tells  how  he  had  smashed  an  earthen- 
ware jug  before  them,  as  a  symbol  of  the  total  destruction 
which  their  sins  were  bringing  upon  Jerusalem;  how  he 
made  a  wooden  yoke  and  wore  it  publicly,  as  a  symbol 
of  the  inevitable  rule  of  Nebuchadrezzar,  against  which 
it  would  be  madness  to  rebel;  and  how  when  a  false 
prophet  took  the  wooden  yoke  and  broke  it,  Jeremiah 
returned  the  next  day  with  an  iron  one.  (See  Jer. 
27: 1 — 28: 17.)  Finally  the  book  contained  an  account  of 
some  of  the  many  hardships  and  persecutions  which  the 
prophet  suffered  during  those  last  years  in  the  besieged 
city,  in  the  desolated  land,  and  among  the  exiles  in  Egypt. 
This  biographical  sketch,  with  the  addresses  by  Jere- 
miah, Baruch  put  together  in  a  book  of  considerable 
length,  which  (with  some  additions  from  later  scribes) 
is  known  to  us  today  as  the  book  of  Jeremiah  in  the 
Old  Testament.  It  could  be  called,  quite  as  truly,  the 
book  of  Baruch.  Judging  from  the  sections  which 
were  written  by  Baruch,  he  was  a  man  of  great  intellectual 
ability,  as  well  as  nobility  of  character.  His  anecdotes 
about  Jeremiah  are  skilfully  told,  and  bring  clearly  before 
us  the  prophet's  personality.  The  book  was  a  priceless 
contribution  to  the  great  cause  which  they  both  had 
served  so  long  and  faithfully. 


CHAPTER  XXI 

LESSONS    FROM    A    NATION'S    MISFORTUNES 

The  Historical  Books  froivi  Joshua  to  II  Kings 

The  great  historical  narratives  of  the  Hebrews  were 
for  the  most  part  the  product  of  groups  of  writers,  working 
in  co-operation.  The  first  of  these  was  a  group  of  proph- 
ets, in  the  period  after  EHjah,  who  wrote  the  Judean- 
Ephraimite  history.  (See  chapter  XV.)  The  next  im- 
portant group  Hved  about  two  centuries  later,  about 
650  B.C.  It  is  to  this  group  that  we  are  chiefly  indebted 
for  the  books  of  Joshua,  Judges,  I  and  II  Samuel,  and  I 
and  II  Kings  in  their  present  form.  These  men  were 
closely  associated  and  played  an  important  part  as  re- 
Hgious  leaders  in  the  history  of  Judah.  They  probably 
lived  as  a  little  community,  in  some  large  house,  or  group 
of  houses,  in  Jerusalem.  They  began  their  life  as  a  com- 
munity during  the  wicked  reign  of  Manasseh.  They  helped 
in  the  reforms  of  Josiah.  They  were  at  work  during  the 
evil  days  of  Jehoiakim.  Jeremiah  must  have  known  them, 
and  may  sometimes  have  been  a  guest  at  their  house, 
although  he  did  not  entirely  sympathize  with  their 
ideas.  Finally,  when  Jerusalem  was  destroyed,  some 
of  the  members  of  their  organization  were  carried  away 
to  Babylon,  where  for  a  time  they  were  able  to  continue 
their  writing.  As  a  group,  they  are  generally  called 
the  Deuteronomists. 

This  word  is  applied  to  them,  because  their  chief 
purpose  in  writing  history  was  to  persuade  their  country- 
men to  obey  the  laws  in  the  revised  book,  now  called 
Deuteronomy.  They  were  probably  among  the  leaders 
who  persuaded  King  Josiah  to  adopt  it. 

This    explains    why    they    began    their    history    with 

131 


132  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Joshua.  According  to  their  ideas,  the  substance  of  the 
law  had  been  given  to  the  nation  just  before  the  death  of 
Moses,  and  the  settlement  in  Canaan,  tinder  Joshua. 
Hence  they  were  not  interested  in  the  history  before 
that  time. 

They  sought  to  show,  through  history,  that  all  the 
troubles  of  the  nation  were  the  consequences  of  dis- 
obedience to  God's  commands  as  these  had  been  revealed 
in  that  law-book.  The  whole  course  of  their  national 
history  seemed  to  them  a  proof  of  their  belief.  "  When 
we  obeyed  this  law,"  so  they  argued,  *'  we  were  prosperous 
and  happy."  ''  When  we  were  disobedient,  especially 
when  we  worshipped  idols,  calamities  came." 

Their  Methods  of  Work 

We  may  imagine  that  these  co-operative  historians  had 
a  common  room  in  which  to  do  their  work.  They  would 
have  writing-tables,  blank  rolls  of  leather  for  writing, 
and  pens  and  ink.  To  this  headquarters  each  one 
brought  every  scrap  of  writing  which  he  could  find  which 
would  throw  light  upon  the  history  of  the  nation.  Thus 
they  had  a  copy  of  the  old  Judean-Ephraimite  history, 
and  made  large  use  of  it.  Their  chief  desire,  of  course, 
was  to  find  illustrations  in  the  history  for  the  ideas  they 
were  trying  to  teach.  There  was  undoubtedly  joy  among 
them  when  some  member  brought  in  a  history  of  the 
prophet  Samuel.  He  had  picked  up  the  manuscript 
while  on  a  trip  to  the  northern  part  of  the  country.  In 
the  house  of  some  friendly  prophet,  not  far  perhaps  from 
Samuel's  old  home,  Shiloh,  our  traveller  had  discovered 
this  written  roll,  and  had  hastened  back  to  Jerusalem  to 
make  a  copy  of  it.  It  told  among  other  things  how  Saul 
had  been  deposed  from  his  kingship,  because  he  had 
disobeyed  Jehovah's  command  by  offering  sacrifices 
in  an  unlawful  manner.  *'  Good!"  said  all  the  workers 
when  it  was  read  to  them.  "  We  can  use  every  word  of 
that   in   our   history!      If  Saul    had    obeyed    this   law 


LESSONS  FROM  A  NATION'S  MISFORTUNES   133 

(Deuteronomy),  his  descendants  might  have  been  kings 
of  Israel  today." 

These  Deuteronomic  writers  were  not  experts  in  judging 
of  the  accuracy  of  the  records  they  found.  They  were 
not  trained  in  such  matters.  They  would  sometimes 
copy  into  their  own  book  two  different  accounts  of  the 
same  event  without  even  noticing  the  contradictions 
between  them.  It  is  fortunate  for  us,  therefore,  that 
they  did  not  write  the  narratives  in  their  own  words, 
except  when  they  could  find  nothing  from  an  earlier  writer 
which  brought  out  the  religious  doctrines  they  were 
trying  to  teach.  As  far  as  possible,  they  copied  word 
for  word  the  older  records,  many  of  which  were  very 
accurate.  This  v/as  their  most  important  service  for 
posterity.  What  a  discovery  it  would  be,  if  someone 
should  uncover,  some  day,  the  ruins  of  this  old  literary 
work-shop  under  the  streets  of  modem  Jerusalem,  and 
should  find,  amidst  the  mold,  the  original  manuscripts 
which  were  gathered  from  all  parts  of  the  land.  Many 
a  disputed  question  would  be  answered. 

The  Books  of  Joshua  and  Judges 

We  first  meet  with  the  work  of  the  Deuteronomists 
in  the  book  of  Joshua.  This  was  the  point  at  which  their 
interest  in  the  history  began.  The  Judean-Ephraimite 
history  had  given  a  very  accurate  account  of  the  settle- 
ment of  the  Hebrews  in  Canaan  (see  chapter  XVI), 
and  the  Deuteronomists  copied  long  passages  from  it. 
This  older  history  told  how  under  Joshua's  leadership 
the  Hebrews  had  gained  a  foothold  in  the  land;  but  it 
was  made  clear  that  for  many  decades,  they  had  a  hard 
struggle  with  the  earlier  Canaanites,  so  that  it  was  not 
until  the  time  of  David  that  all  the  old  Canaanite  cities 
were  conquered.  But  to  the  Deuteronomists  it  was 
simply  inconceivable  that  an  upright  leader  like  Joshua, 
the  trusted  servant  of  Moses,  should  not  have  been 
rewarded  by  Jehovah  with  an  immediate  victory  over 
all  the  Canaanites. 


134  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

So  we  find  passages  in  the  book  of  Joshua,  evidently 
from  their  hand,  which  contain  statements  such  as  these : 
*'  So  Jehovah  gave  to  Israel  all  the  land  which  he  promised 
with  an  oath  to  give  to  their  fathers,  and  they  took  pos- 
session of  it,  and  dwelt  in  it.  .  .  .  Not  a  man  of  all 
their  enemies  stood  before  them;  Jehovah  delivered  all 
their  enemies  into  their  power."     (Josh.  21:43-45.) 

But  how  could  they  explain  those  earlier  statements 
regarding  the  hard  struggles  with  the  original  Canaanites 
which  continued  for  a  century  or  two.  ''  Those,"  they 
answered,  *'  were  the  result  of  the  disobedience  of  the 
people  after  the  death  of  Joshua,  which  made  it  necessary 
for  Jehovah  again  and  again  to  give  them  back  into  the 
power  of  their  old  enemies,  to  punish  them."  So  the 
Deuteronomists  wrote  a  second  book,  the  book  of  Judges, 
in  which  they  continued  the  story  in  accordance  with 
this  theory.  Into  this  book  they  inserted  the  earlier 
narratives  about  the  champions  who  lived  after  Joshua's 
time,  using  for  each  story  the  same  introductory  form  of 
words.     (See  Judges  4 :  2 ;  6 : 1 ;  10 :  7 ;  15 : 1.) 

The  Books  of  Samuel 

The  two  books  known  as  First  and  Second  Samuel 
are  really  a  single  composition  and  are  so  printed  in  the 
Hebrew  Bible.  They  take  their  name  from  the  prophet 
Samuel,  who  is  one  of  the  leading  characters  in  the  early 
part  of  the  narratives.  There  is  no  reason  to  suppose 
that  anything  in  either  of  the  books  was  written  by 
Samuel  himself.  The  two  books  together  cover  a  period 
of  about  seventy-five  years,  from  the  birth  of  Samuel 
to  the  closing  years  of  David.  They  are  made  up  largely 
of  quotations,  from  the  biography  of  Samuel,  mentioned 
above,  and  from  the  early  biographies  of  Saul  and  David, 
mentioned  in  chapter  XV. 

In  these  books  of  Samuel  the  Deuteronomists  did  not 
find  it  necessary  to  add  many  supplementary  statements 
of  their  own.  The  older  manuscripts  from  which  they 
quoted    all  brought  out  clearly  and  forcibly  the  truth 


LESSONS  FROM  A  NATION'S  MISFORTUNES  135 

which  they  were  seeking  to  teach.  Saul  was  rejected 
as  king,  by  Jehovah,  because  he  disobeyed  Jehovah's 
commands.  David's  lapses  into  sin  brought  upon  him 
a  long  train  of  disasters.  If  even;  David  was  thus 
punished,  who,  notwithstanding  his  grave  faults,  was  on 
the  whole  a  good  man,  how  much  more  would  the  sins  of 
the  people  of  Judah  lead  to  a  stem  retribution! 

The  Books  of  Kings 

The  first  and  second  books  of  Kings,  like  the  books  of 
Samuel,  are  really  a  single  work,  continuing  the  thread  of 
the  history  from  the  death  of  David  to  the  destruction 
of  Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadrezzar.  For  this  period  the 
Deuteronomists  were  not  able  to  find  so  many  good 
historical  records.  Solomon,  however,  had  established 
the  office  of  the  royal  scribe,  and  from  the  court  records 
left  by  these  officials,  the  dates  of  the  most  important 
events  could  be  learned.  The  priests  in  the  temple  at 
Jerusalem  kept  similar  records  of  events  of  special  interest 
to  them.  There  was  also  a  short  book  of  stories  about 
the  prophet  Elijah,  and  another  about  his  successor, 
Elisha. 

In  this  part  of  their  history  the  Deuteronomists  con- 
tinued to  emphasize  the  certainty  of  Jehovah's  rewards 
and  retributions.  Those  kings  who  ''  did  evil  in  the 
sight  of  Jehovah"  were  represented  as  speedily  punished, 
while  those  who  did  right  were  described  as  prosperous. 
They  were  especially  severe  on  those  kings  who  neglected 
the  temple  at  Jerusalem,  and  patronized  the  local  shrines 
elsewhere.  They  explained  the  early  downfall  of  the 
northern  kingdom  as  due  to  the  fact  that  Jeroboam  I 
had  set  up  shrines  at  Bethel  and  Dan,  thus  keeping  the 
people  from  worshipping  at  Jerusalem.  In  this  they 
were  not  altogether  just.  For  while  the  influence  of 
these  local  shrines  had  been  on  the  side  of  idolatry,  yet 
no  one,  until  the  prophets  Amos  and  Hosea,  had  realized 
this  fact;  nor  had  the  worship  at  these  shrines  been  for- 
bidden,  until  the  Deuteronomic  revision  was  adopted; 


136  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

but  they  supposed  that  this  prohibition  had  been  in  force 
from  the  beginning. 

As  rehgious  teachers,  the  Deuteronomists  were  more 
nearly  right  than  as  historians,  and  we  are  stirred  by  the 
earnestness  of  their  moral  and  religious  purposes.  For- 
tunately, we  are  able  to  get  our  knowledge  of  the  historical 
facts  from  the  earlier  sources  which  they  quoted. 


CHAPTER  XXII 
COMFORTERS  AND  GUIDES  IN  DARK  DAYS 

EZEKIEL,    HaGGAI,    ZeCHARIAH,    AND   OTHERS 

Before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  in  586  B.C.,  the 
message  of  the  prophets  had  been  largely  a  stem  one. 
The  people  had  needed  to  be  rebuked  for  their  sins,  and 
warned  regarding  the  consequences  which  were  sure  to 
follow.  When  Jerusalem  finally  lay  in  total  ruin,  how- 
ever, the  time  had  come  for  a  different  note  to  be  soimded. 
In  place  of  denunciation,  the  survivors  of  the  catastrophe 
were  now  in  need  of  hope  and  comfort.  The  land  was 
exhausted  from  the  long  siege.  Many  had  been  slain 
in  battle.  Some  thirty  thousand  others,  men,  women 
and  children,  had  been  compelled  to  tread  the  long  and 
bitter  pathway  of  exile,  from  Judah  to  Babylonia  —  a 
thousand  mile  journey  on  foot.  Multitudes  of  others 
fled  to  Egypt  for  safety,  and  many  remained  there  per- 
manently. Those  who  remained  in  Judah  probably 
suffered  most  of  all.  For  more  than  a  century  the  land 
was  in  disorder.  Bands  of  robbers  preyed  at  will  upon 
the  helpless  farmers  and  shepherds.  Starvation,  blood- 
shed and  torture  were  everyday  experiences.  In  their 
despair,  the  people  were  saying  that  Jehovah  had  for- 
gotten His  people  or  had  wholly  forsaken  them.  Those 
who  were  scattered  in  foreign  lands  were  tempted  to 
give  up  entirely  the  religion  of  Jehovah,  and  become  like 
the  heathen  among  whom  they  lived.  So  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  the  prophetical  writings  from  the  period 
after  the  fall  of  Judah  are  very  different  in  tone  and 
purpose  from  those  of  the  earlier  time ;  and  that  messages 
of  comfort  and  promises  of  a  return  from  exile  take 
the  place  of  denunciation. 

137 


138  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Among  the  first  to  strike  the  new  note  was  Jeremiah. 
In  one  of  his  later  sayings  he  declared  that  a  better  day- 
was  surely  coming,  when  Jehovah  would  write  His  law, 
not  on  stone  tablets,  but  on  the  hearts  of  His  people. 
He  also  made  clear  his  belief  that  the  sunlight  of  peace 
and  prosperity  would  again  shine  upon  the  land. 

A  Jewish  Prophet  *'by  the  Rivers  of  Babylon" 

Among  the  exiles  who  were  taken  to  Babylonia  by 
Nebuchadrezzar,  after  the  first  siege  of  Jerusalem  (597 
B.C.),  was  a  young  priest  named  Ezekiel.  He  began 
his  work  as  a  prophet  soon  after  reaching  the  new  country. 
The  Jews  were  not  prisoners,  but  were  allowed  to  live 
together  in  a  group  of  small  villages,  supporting  them- 
selves by  farming  and  commerce.  Near  their  settlement 
ran  the  Kabaru  canal  ('*  the  river  Chebar,  in  Ezekiel  "). 
The  waters  of  these  canals  were  used  in  the  irrigation 
of  the  wonderfully  fertile  soil.  No  doubt  boats  also 
passed  up  and  down  the  canal,  laden  with  merchandise. 
There  was  no  reason,  therefore,  why  the  Jewish  exiles 
should  not  take  up  the  thread  of  their  life,  and  continue 
their  national  customs  and  religion  much  as  before  they 
were  taken  captives.  At  first  they  were  slow  in  adapting 
themselves  cheerfully  to  the  new  conditions.  Jerusalem 
was  not  finally  destroyed  until  586  B.C.,  and  previous 
to  this  date,  these  exiles  kept  hoping  that  almost  any 
day  they  would  be  able  to  return  to  the  home-land.  In 
his  earlier  addresses,  Ezekiel  tried  to  combat  these 
false  hopes.  But  when  the  news  finally  came  that  Nebu- 
chadrezzar had  captured  and  destroyed  Jerusalem,  even 
burning  the  temple  of  Jehovah,  their  spirit  seemed  utterly 
broken.  From  this  time  on,  therefore,  Ezekiel  set  him- 
self to  the  task  of  encouraging  these  disheartened  men 
and  women.  They  needed  something  to  Hve  for,  some- 
thing to  look  forward  to ;  and  the  prophet  now  insisted 
with  all  earnestness  that  the  time  would  surely  come 
when  Jehovah  would  bring  back  to  Judah  her  exiled 
sons  and  daughters  and  restore  their  nation  to  its  former 


COMFORTERS  AND  GUIDES  139 

glory,  leading  them  in  victor}^  againvSt  all  their  enemies. 
He  drew  up  an  elaborate  program  of  the  future  restora- 
tion of  the  nation,  as  he  hoped  that  it  would  come  to 
pass.  In  this  program,  Ezelael  shows  his  priestly  train- 
ing. The  center  of  ever}^thing  in  the  new  age  was  to 
be  the  temple  of  Jehovah  in  Jerusalem.  For  the  con- 
struction of  this  temple  he  actually  gives  a  full  set  of 
plans  and  specifications.     (Ezek.  40-43.) 

Ezekiel  also  had  felt  the  influence  of  the  earlier  proph- 
ets, and  in  many  sayings  dwelt  on  the  necessity  of  right 
conduct  toward  other  men.  To  us,  these  latter  sayings 
are  the  most  valuable,  such  as  his  promise  of  Jehovah's 
blessing  upon  the  man  who  will  "  wrong  no  one,  restore 
the  debtor  his  pledge,  take  nought  by  robbery,  give  his 
bread  to  the  hungry,  and  clothe  the  naked."  (Ezek. 
18:5-9.) 

Ezekiel's  Predictions  Fulfilled.     The   Rebuilding 
OF  THE  Temple 

In  the  years  520-516  B.C.,  the  temple  at  Jerusalem 
was  actually  rebuilt.  At  that  time,  Persia  instead  of 
Babylonia  was  the  imperial  nation  in  Asia.  Cyrus  the 
Great  had  conquered  Babylon  in  538  B.C.,  and  had  given 
permission  to  the  exiles  in  that  land  to  return  to  their 
homes.  Some  of  the  more  patriotic  Jews  took  advantage 
of  this  edict,  and  coming  back  to  Judah,  helped  to  bring  new 
life  and  hope  to  the  discouraged  people  there.  Finally  in 
520  B.C.,  a  movement  was  started  to  rebuild  the  temple. 
The  leaders  in  this  movement  were  two  prophets,  Zech- 
ariah  and  Haggai.  Zechariah  was  probably  one  of  the 
exiles  who  had  returned  from  Babylon.  Haggai 's  ad- 
dresses are  preserved  in  the  two  chapters  of  his  short 
book.  He  was  not  especially  profound  or  original  in 
his  ideas,  but  as  a  practical  leader,  he  served  his  people 
well. 

* '  Thus  speaketh  Jehovah  of  hosts  (says  Haggai) ; 
This  people  say,  the  time  is  not  come  for  Jehovah's 
house  to  be  built  ...  Is  it  a  time  for  you  to  dwell  in 


140  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

your  ceiled  houses,  while  this  house  lieth  waste?  .  .  . 
Thus  saith  Jehovah  of  hosts,  Consider  your  ways.  Go 
up  to  the  hill-country,  and  bring  wood,  and  build  the 
house,  and  I  will  take  pleasure  in  it,  .  .  .  saith  Jehovah." 
(Hag.  1:2-8.) 

So  they  organized  the  first  church  building  society 
on  record.  Wood  was  brought  in  from  the  surrounding 
forests;  the  carpenters  went  to  work  with  a  will,  and 
after  about  four  years  the  new  temple  was  finished.  It 
was  a  long,  hard  struggle  for  the  poverty-stricken  people 
of  Judah;  and  they  never  could  have  carried  it  through 
to  completion  had  not  Haggai  and  Zechariah  kept  cheer- 
ing them  on. 

"Are  We  to  Have  our  Own  King  Again?" 

There  was  another  matter  in  which  these  two  prophets 
were  deeply  interested,  and  that  was  the  re-establishment 
of  Judah  as  an  independent  kingdom,  with  a  descendant 
of  David  on  the  throne.  The  year  520  B.C.,  and  the 
two  or  three  years  immediately  thereafter,  seemed  op- 
portune for  such  a  step.  The  Persian  empire  was  ap- 
parently falling  to  pieces.  Cambyses,  the  son  of  Cyrus, 
had  proved  a  weak  ruler,  and  had  finally  committed 
suicide.  A  certain  Darius  had  been  nominated  for  the 
throne  by  the  nobles,  but  nearly  every  province  was 
in  revolt  against  him,  and  it  seemed  unlikely  that  he 
could  ever  become  the  master  of  the  situation.  In  Judah 
the  Persian  authorities  had  already  appointed  as  governor 
a  certain  Zerubbabel,  who  was  related  to  the  Davidic 
family.  To  the  proud  Jews,  King  Zerubbabel  sounded 
far  better  than  Governor  Zerubbabel.  Both  Haggai 
and  Zechariah  were  enthusiastic  leaders  in  this  movement. 
They  promised  Jehovah's  blessing  upon  the  undertaking, 
and  painted  bright  pictures  of  the  future,  under  Zerub- 
babel's  rule. 

All  these  hopes  were  doomed  to  disappointment. 
Months  and  years  passed,  and  Zerubbabel  could  never 
claim  any  title  higher  than  governor.     Judah  remained 


COMFORTERS  AND  GUIDES  141 

a  Persian  province.  But  Zechariah,  at  any  rate,  was 
great  enough  to  rise  above  this  disappointment,  and 
continued  to  cheer  and  encourage  his  people.  He  was 
careful  also  to  emphasize  the  conditions  which  must 
be  fulfilled,  to  make  it  possible  for  Jehovah  to  bless  them. 
''  These  are  the  things  that  ye  shall  do.  Speak  ye 
every  man  the  truth  with  his  neighbor;  render  peaceful 
decisions  in  your  gates;  and  let  none  of  you  devise  evil 
in  his  heart  against  his  neighbor;  and  love  no  false  oath; 
for  all  these  are  things  which  I  hate,  saith  Jehovah." 
(Zech.  8:  16-17.)  Evidently  Zechariah  also  had  caught 
the  spirit  of  the  great  prophets  who  had  preceded  him, 
from  Amos  to  Jeremiah.  What  he  chiefly  hoped  for  was 
not  the  outward  splendor  of  a  king,  but  the  more  real 
and  lasting  glory  of  truth  and  kindness  and  justice  in 
their  national  life. 

Predictions  of  Happier  Days,  by  Unnamed 
Authors 

One  way  in  which  the  Jews  of  this  period  sought  com- 
fort and  inspiration  was  in  the  reading  of  the  earlier 
prophetic  writings.  While  these  earlier  writings  were 
deeply  reverenced,  it  was  often  felt  that  the  stem 
rebukes  and  warnings  with  which  these  were  filled 
were  not  entirely  applicable  to  the  poor  and  oppressed 
people  of  the  later  time.  Occasionally  a  scribe  would 
feel  moved  to  add  a  few  words  in  a  more  hopeful  and 
comforting  tone  at  the  bottom  of  a  column  or  at  the 
end  of  a  roll,  to  bring  the  manuscript,  as  it  were,  down 
to  date.  We  find  such  short  passages  in  many  places, 
sprinkled  through  the  writings  of  these  prophets  who 
wrote  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  One  such 
passage  is  found  at  the  end  of  the  book  of  Amos. 

The  author  probably  lived  in  the  ruined  city  of  Jeru- 
salem, perhaps  about  the  year  500  B.C.  Reading  his 
copy  of  the  "  words  of  Amos,"  he  came  to  the  closing 
sentence: 


142  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

"Behold  the  eyes  of  the  Lord  Jehovah  are  upon  the  sinfiil 
kingdom, 
And  I  will  destroy  it  from  the  face  of  the  earth." 

His  soul  had  been  thrilled  by  the  splendid  earnestness 
of  the  book;  but  this  closing  sentence  left  him  with  a 
heavy  heart.  ''  Have  we  not  been  punished  enough?" 
he  said  to  himself,  as  he  thought  of  the  battered-down 
walls  of  the  city,  and  the  wretched  collection  of  hovels 
where  once  beautiful  mansions  had  stood.  Surely  the 
day  is  coming  when  Jehovah  will  bless,  not  punish.  He 
took  his  pen  and  wrote  a  few  more  hopeful  words  as 
follows : 

"  In  that  day  will  I  raise  up  the  tabernacle  of  David 
that  is  fallen,  and  close  up  the  breaches  thereof;  and  I 
will  raise  up  its  ruins,  and  I  will  build  it  as  in  the  days  of 
old.  Behold  the  days  come,  saith  Jehovah,  that  the 
plowman  shall  overtake  the  reaper,  and  the  treader  of 
grapes  him  that  soweth  seed;  and  the  mountains  shall 
drop  sweet  wine,  and  all  the  hills  shall  melt.  And  I 
will  bring  back  the  captivity  of  my  people  Israel,  and 
they  shall  build  the  waste  cities,  and  inhabit  them; 
and  they  shall  plant  vineyards,  and  drink  the  wine  thereof ; 
they  shall  also  make  gardens,  and  eat  the  fruit  of  them. 
And  I  will  plant  them  upon  their  land,  and  they  shall 
not  more  be  plucked  up  out  of  their  land  which  I  have 
given  them,  saith  Jehovah  thy  God."     (Amos  9: 12-15.) 

Among  the  best-known  of  these  later  passages  which 
were  probably  added  in  this  way,  are  Isaiah  9:1-17, 
and  11: 1-10,  which  seem  to  come  from  the  same  author. 
These  sections  portray  an  ideal  ruler.  Perhaps  they 
were  written  by  someone  in  the  time  of  Haggai  and 
Zechariah,  who  hoped  for  great  things  from  Zerubbabel. 
In  former  times  these  two  passages  were  generally  in- 
terpreted as  predictions  of  the  coming  of  Jesus.  Jesus, 
however,  chose  to  be  a  teacher,  rather  than  an  earthly 
ruler.  Yet  if  a  judge,  or  mayor,  or  governor,  to-day, 
should  wish  to  fulfil  the  duties  of  his  office  in  the  spirit 


COMFORTERS  AND  GUIDES  143 

of  Jesus,  he  might  well  take  the  following  passage  for 
his  daily  reading: 

"  The  spirit  of  Jehovah  shall  rest  upon  him, 
A  spirit  of  wisdom  and  insight, 
A  spirit  of  counsel  and  might, 

A   spirit   of    knowledge    and    the    fear    of    Jehovah." 
(Isa.  11:2.) 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

A  NEW  MESSAGE  FOR  THE  OPPRESSED 
The  Second  Part  of  Isaiah 

The  Servants  of  Jehovah 
In  times  of  general  disorder  and  misfortune,  there  are 
always  a  few  men  who  are  unscrupulous  enough  to  make 
capital  out  of  the  troubles  of  their  fellow-men,  and  thus 
become  prosperous.  This  was  the  case  in  the  dark  cen- 
turies following  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  A  little 
clique  of  Jewish  nobles  acquired  power  and  influence 
by  currying  favor  with  their  Babylonian  and  Persian 
rulers.  Thus  they  were  able  to  oppress  without  mercy 
their  fellow-citizens  whose  lot  was  already  hard  enough. 
The  poor  were  robbed  of  their  little  fields  and  houses, 
and  many  were  sold  into  slavery. 

These  down-trodden  ones,  on  the  other  hand,  remem- 
bered the  bitter  denunciations  of  Amos  and  the  other 
prophets  against  the  oppressors  of  an  earlier  day.  They 
remembered,  also,  the  just  laws  which  had  been  handed 
down  from  the  olden  time;  and  the  books  containing 
these  laws,  and  the  addresses  of  the  prophets,  were  widely 
read.  It  is  probable  that  little  groups  of  people  began 
to  meet  together  in  each  other's  homes  to  read  these 
books,  and  to  express  their  indignation  against  the  rich 
nobles  who  were  wronging  them.  The  people  who  thus 
formed  the  habit  of  meeting  together  were  called  by 
various  names.  Sometimes  they  were  called  "the  poor." 
Another  name  which  they  seem  to  have  applied  to  them- 
selves was  "  the  servants  of  Jehovah." 

Of  course  they  were  persecuted.  It  is  always  more 
politic,  at  least  for  the  time  being,  to  submit  tamely  to 
extortion  and  injustice.     Because  these  men  would  not 

144 


Copyright  by  the  Cni-tis  Pudlishiug  Co. 

"l    WILL    LIFT    UP    MINE    EYES  " 


A  NEW  MESSAGE  FOR  THE  OPPRESSED  145 

submit,  Insults  were  hurled  at  them  as  they  passed  down 
the  street.  Slanders  were  circulated  about  them.  And 
whenever  any  special  misfortune  came  upon  them, 
there  were  many  to  cry,  **  Aha!  Aha!  Where  is  their 
God?" 

Why  do  Innocent  Persons  Suffer? 
These  things  were  all  the  harder  to  hear  because  they 
had  been  trained  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Deuteronomists. 
They  had  been  taught  to  beHeve  that  God  always  punishes 
the  wicked,  and  rewards  the  upright.  Yet,  in  their  case, 
special  devotion  to  Jehovah  had  apparently  brought 
special  suffering;  while  wickedness,  on  the  other  hand, 
seemed  the  sure  pathway  to  fortune.  They  could  find 
no  answer  to  the  question  of  their  persecutors:  "  Where 
is  thy  God."  .  .  .  In  their  meetings  there  were  even  some 
who  declared: 

"  Every  one  that  doeth  evil 
Is  good  in  the  sight  of  Jehovah, 
And  he  delighteth  in  them ; 
Or  where  is  the  God  of  justice."  (Mai.  2: 17.) 

A  partial  solution  for  these  perplexities  was  offered 
by  the  man  who  wrote  the  Book  of  Malachi.  This 
book  was  probably  written  within  a  few  decades  after 
the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  (about  475  B.C.).  The 
name  of  the  author  we  do  not  know.  The  word  Malachi 
means  "  my  messenger,"  and  was  placed  on  the  title 
page  by  some  scribe,  who  took  it  from  the  third  chapter, 
the  first  verse.  One  of  the  chief  purposes  of  this  writer 
was  to  help  these  earnest  men  among  ''  the  poor  "  to 
hold  fast  to  their  faith  in  God's  justice.  He  told  them 
that  their  sufferings  were  only  temporary.  There  would 
be  a  future  day  of  recompense,  when  the  wicked  should 
be  punished,  and  the  righteous  rewarded. 

The  Second  Isaiah 
Sometime  during  this  same  period,   probably  within 
a  few  decades  after  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple,  there 


146  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

lived  one  of  the  greatest  of  the  prophets  of  Israel.  Great 
as  he  was,  we  do  not  even  know  his  name.  He  is  generally 
referred  to  as  the  ''  second  Isaiah,"  because  his  writings 
are  found  in  the  latter  part  of  the  book  which  bears 
Isaiah's  name  (chapters  40-66).  Scholars  are  not  even 
agreed  as  to  whether  he  lived  in  Jerusalem  or  among 
the  exiles  in  Babylon.  Certainly  his  heart  was  always 
in  Jerusalem,  and  like  the  author  of  Malachi,  he  was 
probably  a  leader  among  the  ''  servants  of  Jehovah.'* 
But  though  the  world  knows  so  little  about  his  personal 
history,  it  can  never  forget  his  message.  Like  Amos  and 
Hosea,  he  was  one  of  the  great  prophets.  His  deep 
spiritual  insight  enabled  him  to  understand  in  part,  at 
least,  the  true  reason  why  a  just  God  sometimes  permits 
innocent  persons  to  suffer. 

Like  the  author  of  Malachi,  he  believed  with  all  his 
heart  in  a  coming  judgment,  when  God  would  bring  to 
an  end  all  oppression.  Nothing  in  the  Old  Testament 
breathes  a  fiercer  indignation  against  injustice. 

"  Jehovah  hath  seen  it,  and  is  displeased. 
And  He  is  angry  because  there  is  no  justice. 
He  saw  that  there  was  no  man 
And  was  astonished  that  there  was  none  to  interpose. 

According  to  deserts  will  he  recompense 
Wrath  to  his  adversaries,  disgrace  to  his  foes; 
They  shall  see  the  name  of  Jehovah  from  the  west. 
And  his  glory  from  the  rising  sun. 

And  so  as  a  Redeemer  he  shall  shortly  come  to  Zion 
To  turn  away  rebellion  from  Jacob."     (Isa.  59: 15-20.) 

But  in  the  meantime,  these  promises  of  future  deliver- 
ance were  of  little  comfort  to  those  who  were  the  chief 
sufferers  from  present  wrongs.  For  such  sufferers  he 
had  a  great  message,  namely,  that  their  sufferings,^  if 
patiently  borne,  might  benefit  others;  and  that  by  sharing 
in  such  unselfish  suffering,  we  ourselves  attain  the  greatest 
happiness  and  the  highest  glory  of  life.     Scattered  through 


A  NEW  MESSAGE  FOR  THE  OPPRESSED  147 

the  latter  part  of  Isaiah  are  a  series  of  passages  in  which 
the  author  describes  ''  the  servant  of  Jehovah."  They 
are  generally  called  **  the  servant  passages."  In  all 
these  passages,  the  author  is  holding  up  before  his  people 
his  ideal  for  them  as  individuals,  and  as  a  religious 
body.  The  true  servant  of  Jehovah,  he  says,  is  a  teacher 
who  leads  men  to  the  knowledge  of  God. 

"  Behold  my  servant  whom  I  uphold, 
My  chosen,  in  whom  I  take  delight; 
I  have  put  my  spirit  upon  him, 
That  he  may  set  forth  law  to  the  nations."  (Isa.  42: 1). 

As  a  teacher,  he  will  be  quiet,  unassuming,  and  patient; 
he  will  have  sympathy  for  the  weakness  of  his  listeners. 

**  He  will  not  cry  aloud  nor  roar, 
Nor  let  his  voice  be  heard  in  the  street. 
A  crushed  reed  he  will  not  break, 
And  a  dimly  burning  wick  he  will  not  quench." 

(Isa.  42:2-3.) 

As  a  result  of  his  teaching,  the  servant  of  Jehovah  will 
inevitably  be  persecuted. 

"  My  back  I  gave  to  smiters. 
And  my  cheek  to  those  who  plucked  the  beard. 
My  face  I  hid  not  from  insult  and  spitting."   (Isa.  50:  6.) 

But  this  persecution  will  not  be  endured  in  vain. 
In  the  sublime  fifty-third  chapter  of  the  book,  the  author 
shows  that  this  patient,  heroic  endurance  of  persecution 
may  atone  for  the  sins  of  others  and  win  to  lives  of 
righteousness  even  the  men  who  were  wronging  them. 

The  author  of  this  matchless  poem  nowhere  explains 
just  how  it  is  that  the  sufferings  of  the  righteous  may 
atone  for  the  sins  of  the  wicked.  Perhaps  he  means 
that  when  a  good  man  forgives  an  injury  his  forgiveness 
becomes  as  it  were,  a  flower  of  good  growing  out  of  the 
evil,  and  thus  turns  all  into  good  at  last,  v  At  any  rate, 
the  faithful  ''  servants  of  Jehovah  "  to  whom  this  chapter 
was  first  addressed,  must  have  been  strangely  comforted. 
They  could  now  see  that  their  sufferings  were  not  in 


148  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

vain.  By  patiently  enduring  the  evils  which  were  heaped 
upon  them,  they  were  helping  Jehovah  to  conquer  evil. 
Christians  have  always  loved  this  chapter,  more  per- 
haps than  any  other  in  the  Old  Testament.  For  although 
the  author  had  in  mind  primarily  those  of  his  own  day, 
yet  it  is  only  in  Jesus  Christ  that  we  see  the  perfect 
servant  of  Jehovah,  and  the  perfect  fulfilment  of  this 
great  ideal  of  unselfish  suffering  for  the  good  even  of  the 
least  deserving. 


CHAPTER  XXIV 
A  NEW  KIND  OF  PATRIOTISM 

The  Hopes  of  the  Second  Isaiah 

We  have  seen  in  earlier  chapters  that  patriotism  was 
an  essential  element  in  the  reHgion  of  the  Hebrews. 
They  looked  upon  Jehovah  as  the  God  of  the  nation,  and 
of  individuals  only  as  they  belonged  to  the  nation.  They 
believed  that  as  the  God  of  the  nation  Jehovah  required 
each  man  to  forget  his  selfish  interests  and  work  for  the 
general  welfare.  In  the  early  days,  this  belief  was  as- 
sociated with  crude  and  imperfect  ideas.  They  thought 
that  each  nation  had  its  own  god  and  that  Chemosh,  the 
god  of  the  Moabites,  or  Nebo  and  Marduk,  gods  of  the 
Babylonians,  were  just  as  truly  existent  as  Jehovah  the 
God  of  Israel.  They  beheved  that  each  god  was  the  special 
guardian  of  his  own  people,  and  would  show  them  special 
favors.  This  idea  is  even  found  in  some  of  the  prophetical 
writings  of  the  Old  Testament.  The  great  prophets  from 
Amos  onward  began  to  break  away  from  this  idea. 
Amos  declared  that  Jehovah  had  guided  the  history  of 
other  nations  beside  the  IsraeHtes.  (Amos  9:7.)  All  of 
these  prophets  maintained  that  Jehovah  was  using  the 
great  empire  of  Assyria,  and  other  foreign  nations,  to 
punish  his  people  Israel  for  their  sins.  This  implied  that 
Jehovah  was  really  the  one  true  God  of  aU  mankind. 

After  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  however,  the  old  narrow 
type  of  rcHgious  patriotism  received  a  fresh  impulse. 
Many  Jews  regarded  all  foreign  nations  as  enemies  of 
Jehovah.  There  was  a  special  bitterness  against  the 
nations  immediately  surrounding  Judah,  such  as  the 
Moabites,  the  Ammonites,  the  PhiHstines,  and  worst 
of  all,  the  Edomites.     These  nations  had  taken  advantage 

149 


150  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

of  the  helpless  condition  of  the  people  of  Judah,  after  the 
capture  of  Jerusalem,  and  had  cruelly  plundered  and 
ravaged  them.  In  the  Book  of  Ezekiel,  we  find  a  series 
of  chapters,  declaring  Jehovah's  wrath  against  foreign 
nations.  (Chapters  25-32.)  The  Book  of  Obadiah 
(with  its  single  chapter,  the  shortest  book  in  the  Old 
Testament)  expresses  the  most  passionate  hatred  of 
the  Edomites.  The  book  of  Joel  is  a  description  of  Je- 
hovah's day  of  Judgment,  which,  according  to  this  writer, 
was  to  bring  a  terrible  punishment  upon  all  the  enemies 
of  Israel. 

The  Second  Isaiah  as  a  Patriot 

Nowhere  in  the  Old  Testament  do  we  find  a  more 
passionate  love  of  country^  than  in  the  second  part  of 
the  Book  of  Isaiah.  In  this  respect,  the  author  of  these 
chapters  was  a  typical  Hebrew.  Like  most  of  the  other 
prophets  of  this  period,  his  favorite  theme  is  the  coming 
restoration  of  his  country's  prosperity.  "  Comfort  ye, 
comfort  ye,  my  people,  saith  your  God."  He  begins 
his  book: 

"  Speak  tenderly  to  Jerusalem,  and  declare  to  her 
That  her  hard  service  is  accomplished,  her  guilt  is  expiated, 
That  she  hath  received  from  Jehovah's  hand  double  for 
all  her  sins."     (Isa.  40: 1-2.) 
He  is  full  of  the  thought  that  the  exiled  sons  and  daughters 
of  Judah  are  shortly  to  return  to  the  home  land,  from 
all  the  countries  to  which  they  have    been    scattered. 
(Isa.    49:12-13.)     In  his    descriptions    of    the    coming 
glory,  he  is  more  tender,  and  more  rapturous  than  any 
other'  prophet.       (Isa.    55:12-13.)      Through    all    these 
glowing  promises  there  breathes  the  faith  that  Jehovah 
is  the  God  of  Israel,  and  that  Israel  is  Jehovah's  chosen 
people.     (Isa.  41:8-10.) 

Israel  Chosen  by  Jehovah  to  Bless  Mankind 
Although  this  prophet  held  fast  to  his  faith  that  his 
beloved  nation  was  in  a  special  sense  the  people  of  Jehovah, 


A  NEW  KIND  OF  PATRIOTISM  151 

yet  the  experiences  of  those  days  inevitably  broadened 
his  ideas.  After  all,  Judea  was  only  a  little  province 
in  a  great  empire.  Very  likely  he  had  travelled,  and 
had  seen  with  his  own  eyes  the  glories  of  Egypt,  or  Baby- 
lon, or  Persia.  At  any  rate,  he  frequently  came  into 
contact  with  such  foreigners  as  the  governor  of  the  prov- 
ince, or  his  officers,  and  reaHzed  their  ability  and  their 
many  virtues.  Nevertheless  when  he  compared  the 
religion  of  Israel,  as  taught  by  the  prophets,  with  the 
religion  of  these  foreigners,  the  contrast  was  striking. 
He  saw  these  people  actually  worshipping  images  of 
wood  and  stone;  bowing  down  to  them  as  to  real  deities. 
It  seemed  to  him  actually  funny ;  and  he  brings  out  the 
humor  of  it,  in  such  passages  as  the  following,  in  which 
he  addresses  the  foreigners: 

"  To  whom  then  will  ye  liken  God, 
And  what  likeness  place  beside  him  ? 
An  image!  a  craftsman  cast  it, 
And  a  smelter  overlays  it  with  gold!  "  (Isa.  40: 18-19.) 

"  One  cuts  down  cedar  trees  for  his  use 
And  chooses  a  cypress  or  oak, 
HaH  of  it,  he  bums  in  the  fire 
And  upon  its  coals,  roasts  flesh. 
He  eats  the  roast  and  is  satisfied! 
He  warms  himself,  and  says  Aha! 
The  rest  of  it  he  makes  into  a  god, 
He  bows  down  to  his  image  and  worships  it. 
And  prays  to  it  and  says: 
Deliver  me,  for  thou  art  my  god."     (Isa.  44:  14-17.) 

In  contrast  with  these  dead  idols  the  prophet  never  tires 
of  dwelling  on  the  infinite  greatness  and  majesty  of 
Jehovah,  Ruler  of  the  universe. 

But  how  did  it  happen  that  this  supreme  God  of  heaven 
and  earth  had  singled  out  one  small  nation,  the  Jews, 
to  be  in  a  special  sense  His  owti  ?  Here  the  prophet  made 
another  great  spiritual  discovery.  '*  Israel  is  indeed 
chosen  by  Jehovah,  the  infinite  God,'*  he  said  in  substance, 


152  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

"  but  chosen  for  what?  For  special  favors?  For  special 
protection  against  the  sorrows  and  misfortunes  which 
are  the  common  lot  of  all?"  "  No,"  he  answered,  ''  but 
rather  chosen  for  a  special  service  for  mankind ;  namely, 
to  bring  to  all  other  nations  the  knowledge  of  this  true 
God,  Jehovah."  This  thought  comes  out  clearly  in 
the  '*  servant  ideal,"  which  he  held  up  before  his  fellow- 
worshippers  in  the  synagogues.  The  servant  of  Jehovah, 
he  taught,  is  to  bring  not  only  Israel  but  the  world  to 
God. 

"  It  is  too  little  a  thing  to  be  my  servant  "  (saith  Jehovah). 

"  And  to  restore  the  survivors  of  Israel; 
Therefore  I  will  make  thee  the  light  of  the  nations, 
That  my  Salvation  may  reach  to  the  ends  of  the  earth." 
(Isa.49:6.) 

In  other  passages,  the  author  speaks  of  the  entire  nation 
as  Jehovah's  servant. 

Not  only  did  the  second  Isaiah  hold  this  ideal  before 
the  eyes  of  his  countrymen  as  something  to  be  realized 
in  the  future,  but  he  also  contended  for  it  as  a  principle 
of  everyday  life.  There  were  many  foreigners  living  in 
Jerusalem  at  this  time.  Some  of  them  would  gladly 
have  become  worshippers  of  Jehovah,  but  many  of  the 
Jews  were  bitter  in  their  hatred  of  all  foreigners,  and 
wished  to  exclude  them  from  the  temple  worship.  The 
second  Isaiah,  on  the  other  hand,  was  eager  to  welcome 
them,  and  took  their  part  in  words  like  the  following: 

**  Let  not  the  foreigner  who  hath  joined  himself  to  Jehovah  say, 
Jehovah  will  surely  separate  me  from  his  people. 
For  my  house  shall  be  called  a  house  of  prayer  for  all  peoples." 
(Isa.  56:1-8.) 

Other  Prophets  with  a  World-wide  Vision 
In  this  broad  and  liberal  attitude,  the  prophet  unfortu- 
nately found  few  followers.  During  the  next  few  cen- 
turies, the  Jews  as  a  people  grew  more  and  more  narrow 
and  prejudiced.  Considering  what  they  suffered,  we 
can   hardly   blame   them.     Yet   there   were   some   who 


A  NEW  KIND  OF  PATRIOTISM  153 

learned  from  this  great  unknown  prophet  a  better  attitude 
toward  other  nations  and  races,  and  a  nobler  ideal  for 
their  own  nation,  Israel.  A  short  passage  from  one  of 
these  spiritual  disciples  of  the  second  Isaiah  is  found 
in  the  second  chapter  of  the  book  of  Isaiah.  (Isa.  2: 1-7.) 
It  expresses  the  noble  and  inspiring  hope  that  a  time  will 
come  when  the  whole  world  will  learn  through  Israel 
to  worship  Jehovah,  and  when  as  a  result,  all  war  shall 
be  done  away,  and  a  universal  reign  of  peace  be  ushered 
in. 

"  And  many  peoples  shall  go  and  say, 

Come  let  us  go  up  to  Jehovah's  mount. 

To  the  house  of  the  God  of  Jacob, 

That  he  may  instruct  us  in  his  ways 

And  that  we  may  walk  in  his  paths. 

For  from  Zion  proceeds  instruction, 

And  Jehovah's  word  from  Jerusalem. 

"  He  will  arbitrate  between  many  peoples, 
And  render  decisions  for  numerous  nations. 
They  shall  beat  their  swords  into  plowshares. 
And  their  spears  into  pruning-hooks. 
Nation  shall  not  lift  up  sword  against  nation, 
Neither  shall  they  learn  war  any  more." 

(Isa.  2:1-4)  (Micah  4:1-3.) 

An  equally  remarkable  passage  is  found  in  the  nine- 
teenth chapter  of  Isaiah  (19:18-25).  The  writer  of 
these  verses  was  perhaps  a  descendant  of  one  of  those 
Jewish  exiles  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Egypt  after  586 
B.C.  He  had  found  good  friends  among  the  Egyptians. 
They  had  treated  him  kindly,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that 
he  was  a  foreigner  and  a  Jew.  Thus  he  came  to  realize 
the  foolishness  and  injustice  of  race  prejudice.  He 
rose  to  the  noble  thought  that  there  were  good  men  in 
all  races,  and  that  Jehovah  had  chosen  for  some  special 
service  in  the  world,  not  merely  the  Jews,  but  each  and 
every  race  and  nation.  He  beheved  that  the  Egyptians 
would  some  day  become  worshippers  of  Jehovah,  and 
the   Assyrians   also.     By   the   Assyrians   he   meant   all 


154  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

the  inhabitants  of  the  Tigris-Euphrates  valley,  which 
at  that  time  was  probably  under  the  rule  of  Persia.  He 
believed  that  in  the  good  time  to  come,  these  great  nations 
would  no  longer  spend  their  energies  in  wasteful  wars, 
but  rather  in  building  good  roads,  and  in  bringing  manifold 
blessings  to  the  world. 

''  In  that  day  shall  there  be  a  highway  out  of  Egypt 
to  Assyria,  and  the  Assyrian  shall  come  into  Egypt,  and 
the  Egyptian  into  Assyria;  and  the  Egyptians  shall 
worship  with  the  Assyrians." 

"In  that  day  shall  Israel  be  the  third  with  Egypt  and 
with  Assyria,  a  blessing  in  the  midst  of  the  earth;  for 
that  Jehovah  of  hosts  hath  blessed  them,  saying,  Blessed 
be  Egypt,  my  people,  and  Assyria,  the  work  of  my  hands, 
and  Israel,  mine  inheritance."     (Isa.  19:23-25.) 


CHAPTER  XXV 
PRAYERS  FOR  HELP  IN  TIME  OF  OPPRESSION 

The   Book  of   Lamentations  and  the 
Early  Psalms 

One  of  the  most  essential  parts  of  the  equipment  of 
a  modern  church  is  a  supply  of  hymnals.  We  use  them 
for  various  purposes.  They  contain  the  words  and  music 
for  congregational  singing;  and  most  of  them  have  at 
the  end  "  responsive  readings  "  and  sometimes  printed 
prayers.  Some  churches  have  a  special  prayer-book  in 
addition  to  the  hymn-book. 

The  Hebrews  also  had  their  hymn  and  prayer-books 
for  use  in  their  temple  services,  and  other  services  of 
worship.  Had  we  gone  into  one  of  these  gatherings, 
however,  we  would  by  no  means  have  foimd  one  of  these 
books  ready  for  use  as  in  our  chin-ch  pews  today.  The 
art  of  printing  was  then  imknown  and  hymnals  and 
prayer-books  could  not  be  purchased  by  the  himdred. 
It  was  necessary  for  those  who  wished  to  join  in  the  wor- 
ship to  memorize  the  hymns  and  prayers.  Probably  the 
only  copy  in  the  room  would  be  in  the  possession  of 
the  leader  of  the  worship.  He  would  read  the  service  to  the 
people  every  week,  line  by  line,  until  it  was  thoroughly 
learned.  To  make  this  task  of  memorization  easier, 
many  of  these  hymns  and  prayers  were  written  in  acrostic 
form  —  that  is,  the  successive  Hnes  or  stanzas  began  with 
successive  letters  in  the  Hebrew  alphabet. 

The  Book  of  Lamentations 

Two  of  these  ancient  collections  of  hymns  and  prayers 
are  preserved  in  the  Old  Testament;  the  largest  and  most 
familiar  is  the  book  of  Psalms.     There  is  another  and 

155 


156  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

older  collection,  however,  called  the  book  of  Lamenta- 
tions. It  consists  of  a  series  of  five  elegies,  or  dirges, 
lamenting  the  woes  which  befell  Jerusalem  when  it  was 
captured  by  Nebuchadrezzar  and  during  the  discouraging 
years  that  followed.  The  siege  of  a  city  in  ancient  times 
was  horrible  beyond  expression,  and  that  of  Jerusalem 
by  the  Babylonians  was  no  exception.  In  the  pitiless 
famine  of  the  last  months, 

"  Little  children  and  sucklings  swooned  in  the  streets. 
They  said  to  their  mothers,  Where  is  grain  ?"    (Lam.  2 :  11-12.) 

When  the  end  came  with  its  blood  and  flame,  the  city 
was  left  a  smoking  ruin  with  only  a  handful  of  broken- 
hearted inhabitants. 

The  months  passed  and  a  new  springtime  came,  bring- 
ing with  it  the  anniversary  of  the  capture  of  the  city. 
The  survivors  could  not  but  recall  with  fresh  vividness  the 
sufferings  of  those  last  weeks  of  the  siege,  and  the  final 
agony  when  nearly  all  that  they  held  dear  had  been  lost  for- 
ever. On  the  day  of  the  first  anniversary  it  is  probable 
that  many  of  those  who  were  left  in  Jerusalem  gathered 
near  the  ruins  of  the  temple,  to  offer  sacrifices  and  to  pray 
to  Jehovah  to  have  mercy  on  their  land.  Thereafter 
this  anniversary  and  certain  other  days  each  year  were 
observed  as  fast-days  by  many  of  the  Jews. 

For  these  fast-day  services  the  five  dirges  which  we 
have  as  the  five  chapters  of  the  book  of  Lamentations 
were  probably  written.  In  our  English  Bible  this  book 
is  headed,  "  The  Lamentations  of  Jeremiah."  In  the 
original  Hebrew,  however,  there  is  nothing  to  indicate 
that  Jeremiah  wrote  them.  The  author,  or  authors, 
certainly  had  in  mind  the  needs  of  the  public  worship, 
for  at  least  four  of  the  poems  are  composed  as  acrostics, 
to  aid  the  memory. 

The  Prayers  of  David^ 

After  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  those  who  were 
especially  poor  and  oppressed  gathered  in  groups  and  not 


PRAYERS  FOR  HELP  IN  OPPRESSION     157 

only  studied  the  law  and  the  prophets,  but  also  sang  and 
prayed  together.  We  can  imagine  the  second  Isaiah 
leading  their  worship.  (See  Chapter  XXIII.)  Of  course 
they  needed  hymn  and  prayer-books  for  their  meetings. 
Early  in  the  history  of  their  movement  these  "  servants 
of  Jehovah  "  had  a  collection  of  hymns  and  prayers, 
called  the  Prayers  of  David.  This  does  not  mean 
that  King  David,  who  lived  five  centuries  earlier,  had 
written  them,  but  rather  that  the  collection  as  a  whole 
was  dedicated  to  that  famous  poet-king  of  Israel.  Some 
of  the  hymns  may  have  been  written  in  the  earlier  days 
of  the  kingdom,  but  many  more  were  added  by  the 
"  servants  of  Jehovah  "  themselves.  About  one-half  of 
the  Old  Testament  book  of  Psalms  is  taken  from  this 
collection.  These  Psalms  in  our  English  versions  are 
marked  by  the  heading  a  *'  Psalm  of  David."  The 
Hebrew  means  Hterally  "to  David" — that  is,  belonging 
to  the  David  collection. 

There  was  a  remarkable  variety  of  hymns  and  prayers 
in  this  great  **  David  "  collection.  There  were  nature- 
songs,  like  Psalm  19,  which  expresses  a  deep  appreciation 
of  the  glory  of  God  as  revealed  in  the  sun  and  stars : 

**  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God, 
And  the  firmament  showeth  his  handiwork."     (Psalm  19: 1.) 

There  were  prayers  of  repentance,  as  Psalm  51 : 

"  Create  in  me  a  clean  heart,  O  God, 
And  renew  a  right  spirit  within  me. 
Cast  me  not  away  from  thy  presence 
And  take  not  thy  Holy  Spirit  from  me."     (Psalm  51 :  10-11.) 

Finally  there  were  hymns  of  splendid  moral  aspiration, 
such  as  Psalms  15  and  24: 

**  Jehovah,  who  shall  sojourn  in  thy  tabernacle, 
Who  shall  dwell  in  thy  holy  hill? 
He  that  walketh  uprightly  and  worketh  righteousness 
And  speaketh  truth  in  his  heart."     (Psalm  15: 1.) 


158  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Prayers  for  Deliverance 
The  majority  of  these  "  David  "  Psalms  reflect  plainly 
the  experiences  of  those  days  when  these  eariy  worshippers 
were  persecuted  by  the  rich  and  arrogant  nobles  of  Judah, 
and  their  supporters.  There  are  frequent  references  to  the 
enemies  of  Jehovah's  true  servants.  The  authors  generally 
use  the  first  person ;  but  the  words  "  I,"  ''  me  "  or  "  mine  " 
usually  stand  for  the  whole  group  of  the  true  followers 
of  Jehovah,  rather  than  for  the  individual  speaker.  Such 
passages  as  the  following,  therefore,  are  not  merely  vivid 
pictures  of  some  one  man's  experience,  but  of  the  suffer- 
ings of  these  faithful  men  and  women  as  a  class: 

"  Whoever  sees  me  derideth  me; 
They  sneer  as  they  toss  the  head. 
'  He  depended  upon  Jehovah,'  (they  say)  *  Let  him  deliver 

him, 
'  Let  him  save  him  since  he  delighteth  in  him.'  "    (Psalm  22: 
7-8.) 

"  Deliver  me  not  over  imto  the  will  of  my  adversaries. 
For  false  witnesses  are  risen  up  against  me, 
And  such  as  breathe  out  cruelty."     (Psalm  27: 12.) 

In  addition  to  such  prayers  for  protection,  which  con- 
tinue through  page  after  page,  many  psalms  of  this  group 
are  jubilant  in  thanksgiving  for  past  deliverances  and 
full  of  trust  for  the  future. 

*'  Jehovah  is  my  light  and  my  salvation, 
Whom  shall  I  fear? 
Jehovah  is  the  strength  of  my  life. 
Of  whom  shall  I  be  afraid?"     (Psalm  27 : 1.) 

The  Shepherd  Psalm 

Perhaps  the  noblest  product  of  these  experiences  of 
persecution  is  the  twenty-third  psalm.  This  exquisite 
little  poem  is  so  calm  and  peaceful  with  its  green  pastures 
and  still  waters,  that  one  might  be  tempted  to  suppose 
that  the  author  had  never  known  troubles;  that  his  life 
had  always  been  as  placid  as  the  limpid  pools  of  a  meadow 


Copyright  by  the 


THE    LORD    IS    MY    SHEPHERD 


PRAYERS  FOR  HELP  IN  OPPRESSION      159 

stream  on  a  summer  day.  But  this  would  be  a  mistaken 
inference.  Such  a  heartfelt  appreciation  of  the  peace 
and  security  and  safe  guidance  which  the  divine  Shepherd 
alone  can  give  is  the  product  only  of  many  a  time  of 
hardship  and  danger  and  distress.  Moreover,  he  speaks 
of  '*  mine  enemies,"  in  the  familiar  phraseology  of  this 
period.  The  author  was,  perhaps,  a  Judean  shepherd, 
living  near  Hebron,  or  Tekoa,  or  Bethlehem,  and  pasturing 
his  Httle  flock  of  sheep  and  goats  on  the  hillside  near  the 
village.  He  was  a  leader  of  the  "  poor  "  who  met  in 
the  village  from  week  to  week  to  pray,  and  to  keep  alive 
the  ideals  and  the  aspirations  of  the  great  prophets  of 
their  nation.  The  unjust  oppressors  who  lived  in  that 
district  determined  to  teach  this  brave  man  a  lesson. 
He  was  harassed  in  all  possible  ways.  He  was  threatened. 
He  was  kept  in  poverty  and  in  debt  and  on  the  verge  of 
slavery  by  constant  extortion.  He  saw  his  wife  and  little 
ones  himgry  and  cold.  Robbers  were  permitted  to 
attack  him  and  plunder  his  small  possessions  with  im- 
punity, and  he  narrowly  escaped  death  at  their  hands. 
Yet  through  all  these  years  of  anxiety  and  heart-break 
he  climg  to  his  faith  in  Jehovah,  and  to  his  sinprise  he 
discovered  that  in  the  very  darkest  hours  there  came  to 
him  a  great  reward  which  outvv^eighed  all  the  hardship. 
For  it  was  in  just  these  dark  hours  that  the  sweetest 
sense  of  God's  presence  and  fellow^ship  welled  up  in  his 
heart  like  a  song,  and  it  da\\Tied  upon  him  that  this 
great  fellowship  was  a  supreme  prize  which  no  outward 
mishap  could  take  away.  It  was  like  a  table  spread 
before  him  in  the  very  presence  of  his  enemies.  He  was 
indeed  under  the  care  of  a  divine  Shepherd  who  would 
never  fail  him. 

"  Yea,  though  I  walk  through  the  valley  of  the  shadow  of  death, 
I  will  fear  no  evil,  for  thou  art  with  me. 
Thy  rod  and  thy  stafE,  they  comfort  me."     (Psalm  23: 4.) 


CHAPTER  XXVI 
HYMN-BOOKS  WITHIN   HYMN-BOOKS 

The  Story  of  the  Book  of  Psalms 

About  seventy  years  after  the  rebuilding  of  the  temple 
(516  B.C.)  a  committee  of  Jews  from  Jerusalem  went  to 
seek  aid  for  their  distressed  country  from  their  more 
prosperous  kinsfolk  w^ho  lived  in  Persia.  They  had  par- 
ticularly in  mind  a  certain  man  named  Nehemiah,  who 
occupied  an  important  position  as  cup-bearer  and  personal 
adviser  to  Artaxerxes,  the  king  of  Persia.  When  they 
found  Nehemiah  in  the  Persian  capital,  Susa,  they  told 
him  how  the  city  of  his  ancestors  still  lay  for  the  most 
part  in  ruins,  with  no  walls  to  protect  its  inhabitants  and 
open  to  the  attacks  of  all  its  enemies.  Like  most  of  the 
Jews  who  at  this  time  were  Hving  in  foreign  lands,  he  had 
not  realized  that  the  fatherland  had  as  yet  recovered 
only  in  a  slight  degree  from  the  crushing  blow  which  had 
been  struck  by  Nebuchadrezzar  a  century  and  a  half 
before.  Responding  to  the  appeal  of  the  committee 
with  all  the  ardor  of  a  noble  soul,  Nehemiah  secured  a 
leave  of  absence  from  the  Persian  king  and  permission 
to  join  with  his  countrymen  in  rebuilding  the  walls  of 
Jerusalem.  A  few  weeks  later  he  arrived  in  Jerusalem, 
and  within  a  few  months  in  the  face  of  extraordinary 
difficulties  the  great  task  was  finished.  The  walls  were 
restored  and  the  city  was  safe.  The  committee  had  come 
to  the  right  man. 

In  addition  to  the  building  of  the  walls,  Nehemiah 
introduced  important  internal  reforms.  He  restrained  the 
powerful  and  unscrupulous  nobles  who  had  been  in  secret 
alliance  with  the  external  enemies  and  had  been  grinding 
into  slavery  the  poor  among  their  fellow-citizens.    Nehe- 

160 


HYMN-BOOKS  WITHIN  HYMN-BOOKS     161 

miah's  achievements  ushered  in  a  new  era  of  prosperity 
for  Judah. 

Pilgrimages  and  Pilgrim  Songs 

One  result  was  a  new  enthusiasm  in  the  hearts  of  the 
people  for  the  worship  of  God.  The  gatherings  formerly 
known  as  "  the  poor  "  w^ere  still  kept  up,  special  build- 
ings were  erected  for  their  use  and  came  to  be  known  as 
synagogues.  There  was  also  a  new  interest  in  the  services 
of  the  temple.  Worshippers  came  not  only  from  Jerusalem 
but  from  all  parts  of  Judah.  According  to  the  law  in 
Deuteronomy  aU  Jews  were  to  come  to  Jerusalem  three 
times  a  year  to  join  in  the  great  religious  festivals  such  as 
the  Passover,  Pentecost,  and  the  Feast  of  Tabernacles. 
Before  Nehemiah's  time  these  pilgrimages  were  unsafe, 
as  the  whole  coimtry  was  in  disorder,  and  a  crowd  of 
pilgrims  in  Jerusalem  would  only  have  been  the  signal 
for  robbers.  But  now  the  number  of  visitors  increased 
each  year. 

These  festivals  were  joyful  occasions.  People  from  the 
same  village  would  come  up  together,  and  take  lodgings 
together  in  Jerusalem.  All  the  way  thither  the  journey 
was  enlivened  by  songs  and  jokes  and  laughter.  Dining 
their  stay  in  the  city,  when  they  were  not  ''  seeing  the 
sights,"  the  boys  and  girls  would  play  together  while 
their  fathers  and  mothers  gossiped.  The  culminating 
event  of  these  festivals  was  of  course  the  service  of  wor- 
ship in  the  temple.  Some,  no  doubt,  entered  into  the 
spirit  of  the  worship  more  deeply  than  others,  but  all 
were  intensely  proud  of  their  beautiful  city,  with  its 
newly  built  walls. 

**  Beautiful  in  elevation,  the  joy  of  the  whole  earth, 
Is  Mount  Zion,  on  the  sides  of  the  north. 
The  city  of  the  great  King."     (Psalm  48:  2.) 

Such  occasions  as  these  inevitably  inspired  songs. 
There  is  an  exquisite  group  of  songs  in  our  book  of  Psalms, 
each  of  which  bears  the  title,  "  A  Song  of  the  Pilgrimages." 


162  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

(Psalms  120-134.)  They  are  closely  similar  to  each  other 
in  literary  form  and  poetical  spirit  and  probably  most 
of  them  are  by  the  same  author.  Yery  likely  the  pilgrims 
used  to  sing  these  songs  on  the  moonUght  nights  on  their 
journey  toward  Jerusalem  and  in  the  streets  and  squares 
of  the  city  itself  during  the  festivals.  They  reflect  the 
delight  of  the  author  in  all  the  innocent  social  joys  of 
those  days.  We  can  almost  hear  the  laughter  of  children 
at  the  family  reunions, 

"  Lo,  children  are  a  heritage  of  Jehovah.'* 

"  As  arrows  in  the  hand  of  a  mighty  man,  so  are  the  children 
of  youth. 
Happy  is  the  man  that  hath  his  quiver  full  of  them."    (Psalm 
127:4-5.) 

We  can  feel  the  patriotic  longing  with  which  every 
loyal  Jew  looked  forward  to  these  journeys  and  their 
pride  in  the  splendid  city  which  was  the  center  of  so  much 
love. 

"  I  am  glad  when  they  say  to  me, 
Let  us  go  to  the  house  of  Jehovah; 
When  our  feet  are  standing 
Within  thy  gates,  O  Jerusalem."     (Psalm  122: 1-2.) 

Perhaps  the  most  noteworthy  characteristic  of  these 
poems  is  the  beautiful  trust  which  the  author  feels  in 
God's  care.  We  look  off  with  him  from  the  city  gate 
across  the  Kidron  valley  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  on  the 
east  or  to  the  hills  on  the  south  or  west  and  we  hear  him 
say: 

"  They  that  trust  in  Jehovah, 
Are  as  Mount  Zion,  which  cannot  be  moved,  but  abideth 
forever. 

"  As  the  mountains  are  round  about  Jerusalem, 
So  Jehovah  is  round  about  his  people. 
From  this  time  forth  and  forevermore."     (Psalm  125: 1-2.) 


OUR  FEET  ARE   STANDING  WITHIN  THY   GATES, 
0  JERUSALEM." 


HYMN-BOOKS  WITHIN  HYMN-BOOKS     163 

Church  Choirs  and  Their  Anthems 

This  new  interest  in  the  temple  worship  led  to  a  great 
improvement  in  the  services.  Instrumental  music  on 
harps  and  flutes  was  provided  to  accompany  the  hymns. 
A  regular  temple  choir  was  established  and  was  given 
the  entire  control  of  the  services  of  prayer  and  singing. 
Different  families  or  guilds  were  appointed  from  time  to 
time  as  choir  leaders,  as,  for  example,  the  *'  sons  of  Korah," 
and  the  '*  sons  of  Asaph." 

These  choir  leaders  were  continually  on  the  watch  for 
new  hymns  in  order  to  give  variety  to  the  services.  No 
doubt  they  used  the  '*  Prayers  of  David  "  and  perhaps 
also  the  "  Songs  of  the  Pilgrimages."  They  also  made  new 
collections  of  their  own.  There  was  a  collection  by  the 
sons  of  Korah,  from  which  Psalms  42-49  and  84-87  in  our 
Old  Testament  are  taken,  and  another  collection  by  the 
sons  of  Asaph.     (Psalms  50  and  73-83.) 

The  Psalms  of  the  sons  of  Korah  are  especially  note- 
worthy and  include  some  of  the  most  beautiful  in  the 
Old  Testament.  They  express  an  intense  devotion  to 
the  services  of  worship  in  the  temple  as  the  place  where 
men  may  find  new  strength  for  the  burdens  and  duties  of 
life.  Unlike  some  modem  church  choirs,  these  sons  of 
Korah  were  evidently  not  merely  good  musicians,  but 
also  were  filled  with  a  deep  and  genuine  love  for  God. 
"  How  amiable  are  thy  tabernacles 

O  Jehovah  of  hosts ! 

My  soul  longeth,  yea,  even  fainteth  for  the  courts  of  Jehovah. 

My  heart  and  my  flesh  cry  out  imto  the  living  God. 

Yea,  the  sparrow  hath  found  her  a  house, 

And  the  swallow  a  nest  for  herself,  where  she  may  lay  her 
yoimg, 

Even  thine  altars,  O  Jehovah  of  hosts, 

My  King  and  my  God."     (Psalm  84.) 

Like  the  Songs  of  the  Pilgrimages,  these  songs  of  the 
sons  of  Korah  are  aglow  with  gratitude  to  God  for  the 
new  peace  and  prosperity  which  he  has  sent  upon  their 
beloved  land.     (See  Psahn  85.) 


164  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

A  Committee  on  a  New  Hymn-Book 
Each  of  these  collections  of  hymns  had  its  admirers 
just  as  today  some  people  are  fond  of  the  Moody  and 
Sankey  *'  Gospel  Hymns,"  while  others  prefer  the  old 
Church  Hymns.  Each  synagogue  had  its  own  preference. 
In  those  days  this  state  of  things  was  inconvenient. 
Visitors  at  a  synagogue  service  were  frequently  imable 
to  join  in  the  hymns  because  in  their  own  home  synagogue 
they  had  used  and  memorized  a  different  collection. 
They  felt  as  we  feel  today  when  we  visit  a  strange  church 
and  cannot  find  a  hymn-book  in  the  pew.  At  the  time 
of  the  great  religious  festivals  in  the  temple  there  were 
very  few  hymns  in  which  everybody  could  join,  so  it  is 
possible  that  a  regular  committee  was  appointed  by  the 
temple  authorities  to  prepare  a  new  hymn-book. 

These  men  included  in  their  new  book  the  best  of  all 
the  preceding  collections  and  they  added  a  considerable 
number  of  other  hymns  and  prayers  which  they  found  in 
circulation.     Among  these  were  the  well-known: 

**  Lord,  thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  in  all  generations." 
(Psalm  90.) 

and 

"  He  that  dwelleth  in  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High, 
Shall  abide  under  the  shadow  of  the  Almighty."    (Psahn  91.) 

Among  the  best  of  the  new  hymns  was  a  long  one,  which 
in  our  Old  Testament  is  divided  into  a  number  of  short 
Psalms.  (Psalms  95-100).  The  most  famiHar  of  these 
is  Psalm  100,  beginning 

*'  Make  a  joyful  noise  imto  Jehovah,  all  ye  lands." 

All  these  hymns,  from  all  these  various  sources,  were 
copied  into  a  new  and  much  larger  hymn  and  prayer- 
book,  which  was  divided  into  five  sections.  This  book 
came  into  universal  use  among  all  Jews,  and  is  preserved 
to  us  as  our  Old  Testament  book  of  Psalms.  The  spirit 
in  which  this  committee  worked  is  indicated  by  the  hymn 


HYMN-BOOKS  WITHIN  HYMN-BOOKS     165 

which  they  placed  at  the  beginning  of  their  new  book,  as 
a  kind  of  introductory  meditation : 

*\  Blessed  is  the  man  that  walketh  not  in  the  counsel  of  the 
ungodly, 
Nor  standeth  in  the  way  of  sinners. 
Nor  sitteth  in  the  seat  of  the  scoffers. 
But  his  deHght  is  in  the  law  of  Jehovah, 
And  on  his  law  doth  he  meditate  day  and  night. 
And  he  shall  be  like  a  tree,  planted  by  the  streams  of  water. 
That  bringeth  forth  its  fruit  in  due  season. 
Whose  leaf  also  doth  not  wither; 
And  whatsoever  he  doeth  shall  prosper."     (Psalm  1: 1-3.) 

These  great  poems  have  been  on  the  lips  of  more  men 
and  women  throughout  the  centuries  than  any  other 
words  ever  written,  except  the  sayings  of  Jesus.  **  They 
have  furnished  the  bridal  hymns,  the  battle  songs,  the 
pilgrim  marches,  the  penitential  prayers,  and  the  public 
praises  of  every  nation  in  Christendom  since  Christendom 
was  bom."  The  book  of  Psalms  has  been  called  *'  the 
mirror  of  the  soul,"  because  there  is  no  noble  emotion,  no 
depth  of  longing  which  does  not  find  expression  in  it. 
Hence  it  is  that  as  St.  Augustine  said,  "  the  Psalms  are 
read  in  all  the  world,  and  there  is  nothing  hid  from  the 
heat  thereof." 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

APPEALING  TO  HISTORY  IN  A  CHURCH 
QUARREL 

I  AND  II  Chronicles,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah 

''  The  Jews  have  no  dealings  with  the  Samaritans," 
says  the  Gospel  of  John  (John  4:9),  in  its  account  of  the 
conversation  between  Jesus  and  the  woman  of  Samaria. 
When  did  this  bitter  feud  begin  ?  For  the  earliest  begin- 
nings we  must  go  back  to  the  settlement  in  Canaan,  when 
the  tribe  of  Judah  and  certain  minor  clans  settled  in  the 
south,  and  the  other  tribes  settled  in  the  north.  The  two 
sections  of  the  nation  were  kept  apart  for  many  years  by 
a  strip  of  Canaanite  territory.  Under  Saul,  David  and 
Solomon  they  were  drawn  together  into  a  united  kingdom; 
but  after  Solomon's  death  the  northern  tribes  revolted 
and  set  up  a  kingdom  of  their  own,  of  which  the  city  of 
Samaria  soon  became  the  capital. 

Then  came  the  hostile  armies  of  Assyria  and  Babylonia 
and  first  Samaria  (722  B.C.)  and  then  Jerusalem  (586  B.C.) 
were  besieged,  captured,  and  in  large  part  destroyed. 
This  common  misfortune  drew  the  two  sections  together 
for  a  time.  When  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  was  rebuilt 
the  Samaritans  came  there  to  worship.  As  the  cere- 
monial law  was  gradually  developed  by  the  Jerusalem 
priests  into  the  form  now  found  in  the  Pentateuch  (see 
Chapter  XVI),  the  Samaritans  accepted  it  without  ques- 
tion and  tried  to  obey  it. 

Previous  to  Nehemiah's  visit  Samaria  seems  to  have 
become  the  political  and  commercial  center  of  the  land, 
and  was  perhaps  the  headquarters  of  the  tyrannical  nobles 
who  oppressed  the  poorer  people.  They  and  their  allies 
among   the  Ammonites,  Edomites,  Moabites   and   also 

166 


RUINS  OF  A  GRiECO-ROMAN  TEMPLE  AT  SAMARIA. 
From  a  photograph  by  Underwood  and  Underwood. 


HISTORY  IN  A  CHURCH   QUARREL       167 

among  the  nobles  of  the  Jews  themselves,  were  therefore 
bitterly  opposed  to  the  rebuilding  of  the  walls  of  Jerusalem. 
The  Samaritan  governor,  whose  name  was  Sanballat,  was 
the  leader  in  the  opposition  against  Nehemiah.  Thus 
the  old  jealousy  was  revived.  About  a  century  after 
Nehemiah,  or  just  before  Alexander  the  Great  conquered 
the  Persian  empire,  there  was  another  quarrel  between 
the  two  sections  of  Palestine  which  led  to  a  religious 
separation. 

The  Samaritan  Temple 

The  Samaritan  woman  said  to  Jesus,  "  Our  fathers 
worshipped  in  this  moimtain  [that  is,  Motmt  Gerizim, 
near  Samaria]  but  ye  say  that  in  Jerusalem  is  the  place 
where  men  ought  to  worship  "  (John  4:  20).  This  was 
the  bone  of  contention  between  the  Jews  and  the  Samari- 
tans, and  it  came  about  as  follows : 

A  certain  prominent  priest,  named  Manasseh,  married 
Nicaso,  the  daughter  of  Sanballat,  governor  of  Samaria. 
This  was  perhaps  the  grandson  of  the  Sanballat  who 
opposed  Nehemiah.  At  once  there  was  a  protest  in 
Jerusalem.  Many  demanded  that  Manasseh  either  di- 
vorce his  wife  or  else  resign  his  office.  They  would  not 
have  a  son-in-law  of  a  Sanballat  occupying  a  prominent 
position  in  their  temple.  Sanballat  accordingly  said  to 
Manasseh,  ''  What  do  we  care  for  those  people!  Have  we 
not  a  sacred  mountain  in  Samaria,  whose  traditions  are 
far  older  than  Jerusalem?  Come,  I  will  build  a  new 
temple  for  you  on  Mount  Gerizim.  You  shall  be  high 
priest.  Some  of  your  fellow-priests  will  leave  Jerusalem 
and  come  with  you.  We  also  have  priestly  families  here 
in  Samaria.  The  result  will  be  that  most  of  the  people, 
not  only  of  Samaria  but  of  Judah  also  will  come  and 
worship  at  our  temple  and  that  will  leave  the  Jerusalem 
temple  without  worshippers  and  without  any  support." 

The  Claims  of  the  Opposing  Parties 
Thus  it  came  about  that  there  were  two  rival  temples 
and  that  their  respective  adherents  hated  each  other. 


168  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

In  every  village  gate  where  Jews  and  Samaritans  came  in 
contact  the  debate  was  carried  on  with  hot  words  and 
angry  gestures.  The  Jews,  of  course,  appealed  to  the  law 
of  Deuteronomy,  which  forbade  sacrifices  outside  of 
Jerusalem.  Unfortunately  for  them  that  law-book  no- 
where explicitly  mentioned  Jerusalem  by  name.  It  had 
been  written  as  though  by  Moses  before  the  settlement 
in  Canaan,  and  hence  instead  of  saying  *'  Jerusalem," 
the  writers  had  said,  "  the  place  which  Jehovah  shall 
choose."  (See  Deut.  12:5.)  The  Samaritans  now  de- 
clared: "That  means  Mount  Gerizim,  not  Jerusalem. 
Instead  of  our  going  to  Jerusalem,  you  should  come  to 
Mount  Gerizim  to  sacrifice."  Of  course  this  greatly 
incensed  the  Jerusalemites.  They  retorted  by  saying 
that  the  priests  at  the  Samaritan  temple  were  not  pure- 
blooded  members  of  the  tribe  of  Levi;  that  in  fact  they 
were  not  even  pure-blooded  Israelites.  They  asserted: 
"  When  the  Assyrians  conquered  Samaria  they  brought  in 
thousands  of  heathen  colonists;  in  fact,  you  Samaritans 
are  little  better  than  heathen."  (See  II  Kings  17:  24-41, 
which  was  probably  added  to  II  Kings  at  this  time.) 
But  the  Samaritans  were  able  to  answer  that  their  claims 
to  a  pure  Hebrew  ancestry  were  at  least  as  good  as  those 
of  the  Jews.  Did  not  the  book  of  Kings  clearly  say  that 
when  Nebuchadrezzar  conquered  Jerusalem  he  carried  to 
Babylon  all  but  the  very  poorest  and  the  meanest  of  the 
people?  (See  II  Kings  25: 12.)  And  it  was  well  known 
that  these  people  who  had  been  left  in  the  land  had 
freely  intermarried  with  foreigners. 

So  the  quarrel  went  on  with  all  its  unfortunate  conse- 
quences. It  inevitably  strengthened  the  tendency  to 
regard  religion  as  a  mere  matter  of  priestly  ceremonies. 
It  also  increased  the  narrowness  and  prejudice  of  the 
Jews  in  their  attitude  toward  foreigners.  The  mechanical, 
lifeless  religion  of  the  scribes  in  Jesus'  time  may  have 
been  in  no  small  measure  the  product  of  this  church 
quarrel. 


HISTORY  IN  A  CHURCH  QUARREL      169 

The  Chronicler 

Both  the  Jews  and  the  Samaritans  appealed  to  history 
to  prove  that  their  temple  alone  was  properly  authorized 
by  Jehovah.  Unforttmately  for  the  contestants  the  his- 
tory as  it  stood  did  not  seem  to  favor  one  side  more 
than  another.  Hence  at  least  one  other  history  was 
written  which  was  not  so  impartial. 

About  seventy -five  or  a  hundred  years  after  the  build- 
ing of  the  Samaritan  temple  there  lived  in  Jerusalem  a 
certain  Levite  who  was  called  "  the  Chronicler,"  because 
he  wrote  the  Old  Testament  books  I  and  II  Chronicles. 
He  seems  to  have  been  a  member  of  the  temple  choir, 
perhaps  one  of  the  '*  sons  of  Asaph."  Of  course  he  was 
a  supporter  of  the  Jerusalem  temple  as  against  the 
Samaritans,  and  it  vexed  him  that  his  fellow- Jews  were 
so  often  beaten  in  argument.  "  I  will  write  a  history," 
said  our  friend,  ''  out  of  which  no  Samaritan  can  get 
comfort  and  which  will  forever  settle  this  question  in 
favor  of  the  Jews."  So  he  wrote  a  history  which,  in  our 
Bibles,  is  divided  into  four  books,  I  and  II  Chronicles, 
Ezra  and  Nehemiah.  The  first  two  of  these  books  carry 
the  narrative  down  to  the  time  of  the  destruction  of 
Jerusalem  by  Nebuchadrezzar  (586  B.C.).  The  remain- 
ing two,  Ezra  and  Nehemiah,  give  the  writer's  ideas  re- 
garding the  restoration  of  prosperity  to  the  land  during 
the  succeeding  centuries. 

The  history  reveals  the  author's  purpose  on  almost  every 
page.  There  are  many  long  genealogies  extending  from 
Adam  down  to  the  Chronicler's  own  time  to  show  that 
the  Jews,  rather  than  the  Samaritans,  were  of  pure  Hebrew 
blood.  David  and  Solomon,  who  founded  the  Jerusalem 
temple,  are  painted  as  saints.  Nothing  is  said  about  their 
faults.  The  northern  kingdom,  on  the  other  hand,  is  put 
in  a  bad  light. 

In  the  latter  part  of  the  history  (our  books  of  Ezra  and 
Nehemiah)  the  Chronicler  was  chiefly  interested  to  show 
that  the  temple  at  Jerusalem  had  been  rebuilt,  not  by 
the  people  who  had  been  left  in  the  land  (who  had  married 


170  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

foreigners),   but  by  returned  exiles  from  Babylon  who 
were  supposed  to  have  been  pure-blooded  Israelites. 

According  to  the  Chronicler's  representation  of  the 
matter  the  testimony  of  history  was  all  on  the  side  of 
the  Jews.  Clearly  we  should  not  regard  such  a  history 
as  altogether  reHable.  Not  that  the  Chronicler  delib- 
erately falsified  the  history,  but  he  lived  in  a  biased 
atmosphere.  Nevertheless,  his  writings  are  of  value. 
They  throw  a  flood  of  light  on  the  history  of  his  own 
time.  Moreover,  he  was  sincerely  and  enthusiastically 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  Jehovah. 

The  Memoirs  of  Nehemiah 

The  Chronicler  copied  much  of  his  material  from  older 
sources  of  information.  Large  parts  of  I  and  II  Chronicles 
are  taken  word  for  word  from  the  books  of  Samuel  and 
Kings.  Of  the  book  of  Nehemiah  also  a  considerable 
section  (chapters  1-2  and  4-6)  were  taken  from  a  book 
of  memoirs  written  by  Nehemiah  himself,  telling  of  his 
experiences  in  rebuilding  the  walls  of  Jerusalem.  The 
literary  style  of  these  chapters  is  very  different  from  that 
of  the  Chronicler.  They  express  the  energetic,  imselfish 
spirit  of  Nehemiah  and  give  us  a  vivid  picture  of  his 
heroic  struggles  on  behalf  of  his  city.  They  must  be 
reckoned  among  the  best  historical  records  that  have 
come  down  to  us  from  antiquity. 

The  following  is  a  good  example  of  Nehemiah's  clear, 
vigorous  style: 

"  When  our  enemies  heard  that  their  plan  was  known  to  us, 
and  that  God  had  brought  it  to  nought,  we  all  of  us  returned  to 
the  wall  each  to  his  own  work.  And  from  that  time  on,  while 
half  of  my  servants  were  engaged  in  the  work,  half  of  them 
held  the  lances,  the  shields,  the  bows  and  the  coats  of  mail.  .  .  . 
Those  who  built  the  wall  and  those  who  bore  burdens  were 
also  armed,  each  with  one  of  his  hands  engaged  in  the  work, 
while  the  other  was  ready  to  grasp  the  spear;  and  each  of  the 
builders  had  his  sword  girded  by  his  side,  and  so  builded. 
And  he  who  sounded  the  trumpet  was  by  me.    And  I  said  to 


HISTORY  IN  A  CHURCH  QUARREL      171 

the  nobles  and  the  rulers,  and  to  the  rest  of  the  people,  '  The 
work  is  great  and  extensive,  and  we  are  separated  upon  the 
wall  far  from  each  other.  In  whatever  place  you  hear  the 
sound  of  the  trumpet,  gather  to  us,  our  God  will  fight  for  us.' 
So  we  were  active  in  the  work,  while  half  of  them  held  the 
lances,  from  the  gray  of  morning  vuitil  the  stars  came  out." 
(Neh.  4:15-21.) 

The  Chronicler  was  probably  chiefly  interested  in  these 
memoirs  because  they  told  of  Nehemiah's  successfiil 
opposition  to  the  Samaritan  governor,  Sanballat.  They 
are  of  surpassing  interest  to  us  today  because  they  are 
almost  our  only  source  of  information  regarding  one  of 
the  noblest  leaders  in  Hebrew  history:  a  man  of  humble 
faith,  a  loyal  patriot,  a  champion  of  the  weak  and  in  all 
things  a  knightly  gentleman. 


CHAPTER  XXVIII 
TWO  KINDS  OF  PATRIOTISM 

The  Stories  of  Esther  and  Jonah 

Among  the  later  writings  of  the  Old  Testament  are 
two  stories  which  breathe  a  typically  Jewish  spirit  of 
intense  patriotism.  They  represent,  however,  very  dif- 
ferent kinds  of  patriotism,  and  different  ideas  regarding 
the  true  place  of  Israel  among  the  nations. 

We  will  look  first  at  the  book  of  Esther.  The 
heroine  of  this  story,  after  whom  the  book  is  named, 
was  a  beautiful  Jewess,  living  in  Persia  among  the  Jewish 
exiles,  in  the  home  of  her  uncle  Mordecai.  By  a  strange 
turn  of  fortune,  this  maiden,  Esther,  became  the  queen- 
consort  of  Ahasuerus,  the  Persian  king.  Now  at  that 
time  the  king  had  a  wicked  prime  minister  named 
Haman,  who  in  his  arrogance  required  all  common  men 
to  do  obeisance  before  him  whenever  they  were  in  his 
presence.  There  was  one  man,  however,  among  the 
king's  subjects,  who  refused  to  do  homage  before  him, 
and  that  was  Mordecai,  the  Jew,  Esther's  uncle.  Haman 
was  greatly  enraged,  and  secured  from  the  weak  and 
cruel  despot  Ahasuerus,  an  infamous  decree  to  put  to 
death  on  a  certain  day,  not  only  Mordecai,  but  all  the 
Jews  in  all  the  empire  of  Persia.  Of  course,  neither  the 
king  nor  Haman  were  aware  that  Esther  was  related 
to  Mordecai,  or  even  that  she  was  a  Jewess.  Haman 
further  planned  a  special  vengeance  on  Mordecai,  and 
erected  a  special  scaffold  about  ninety  feet  high  on  which 
to  hang  him. 

In  the  meantime,  however,  Mordecai  had  told  Esther 
of  the  dastardly  plot  against  their  people,  and  urged 
her  to  intercede  with  the  king.     ' '  Who  knowest, ' '  he  said, 

172 


TWO   KINDS  OF   PATRIOTISM  173 

"  but  that  thou  art  come  to  the  kingdom  for  such  a  time 
as  this."  Esther  repHed  that  to  go  into  the  king's 
presence  uninvited  might  mean  death;  nevertheless 
she  promised  to  take  the  risk,  and  ''  if  I  perish,  I  perish." 
Her  adventure  proved  a  success. 

Through  her  skill  and  tact  she  won  the  king  over  to 
her  side  and  against  Haman.  The  latter  was  hanged 
on  the  very  scaffold  he  had  built  for  Mordecai,  and 
Mordecai  was  made  prime  minister  in  his  place.  As 
for  the  Jews  they  were  given  permission  to  defend  them- 
selves and  kill  their  enemies.  So  when  the  day  came 
on  which  they  were  to  be  massacred,  they  were  the 
slayers  and  not  the  slain. 

The  germ  of  this  story  was  probably  derived  originally 
from  the  Babylonians,  who  told  it  at  their  New  Year's 
celebration.  In  its  Babylonian  form,  it  was  a  story  about 
the  gods  Marduk  and  Ishtar.  The  Jews  during  their 
exile  in  Babylonia  adopted  the  Babylonian  New  Year's 
feast,  calling  it  the  feast  of  Purim.  They  also  continued 
to  tell  the  old  Babylonian,  story  only  changing  the  god 
Marduk  and  the  goddess  Ishtar  into  human  beings 
Mordecai  and  Esther. 

In  its  present  form,  however,  the  story  is  not  a  mere 
popular  tale  but  a  fascinating  patriotic  romance,  told 
with  a  purpose,  by  a  man  of  remarkable  literary  talent. 
He  lived  in  a  time  when  the  Jews  were  suffering  an 
unusual  degree  of  persecution  from  the  Greek  authorities. 
This  aroused  in  him,  in  turn,  a  passionate  hatred  for  the 
enemies  of  his  people.  There  is  much  in  the  story,  as 
he  tells  it,  which  falls  below  our  Christian  ideals.  It  is 
not  pleasant  to  read  his  account  of  how  many  thousands 
were  slain  by  the  Jews.  On  the  other  hand,  we  can  con- 
done such  feelings  to  some  extent,  when  we  consider 
the  cruel  tyranny  which  provoked  them.  The  unselfish 
courage  of  Esther  is  nobly  portrayed  and  there  is  some- 
thing manly  too  in  Mordecai 's  steadfast  refusal  to  be  a 
servile,  fawning  courtier  before  Haman.     We  may  imagine 


174  THE   STORY  OF   OUR   BIBLE 

that  the  author  of  our  story  was  very  much  such  a  man 
as  Mordecai. 

The  Book  of  Jonah 

The  author  of  the  story  of  Jonah  was  a  prophet.  He 
had  remarkable  gifts  as  a  teacher  and  preacher.  Like 
the  author  of  Esther,  he  had  travelled  in  foreign  lands. 
It  is  probable  that  he  had  lived  in  Egypt.  There  was 
a  large  colony  of  Jews  at  that  time  in  Alexandria,  the 
new  capital  of  Egypt  which  had  been  built  by  Alexander 
the  Great  and  named  for  himself.  At  any  rate,  this 
man  had  come  into  contact  with  foreigners.  He  had 
seen  their  vices  and  sins.  He  knew  their  selfishness, 
deceitfulness,  and  injustice.  But  he  was  a  believer 
in  the  teachings  of  the  second  Isaiah  and  instead  of  hold- 
ing aloof  from  these  people  he  made  friends  with  them 
and  told  them  in  their  own  language  about  the  religion 
of  the  one  God,  Jehovah,  and  about  his  holy  and  righteous 
laws.  Most  of  his  fellow  Jews,  however,  criticized  him 
sharply  for  these  things.  *'  Why  do  you  associate  with 
these  Gentile  dogs?  "  they  said  to  him.  ''  Do  you  not 
know  their  vile  and  wicked  deeds?  Have  they  not 
persecuted  the  people  of  Israel?  Has  not  Jehovah 
pronounced  the  sentence  of  death  upon  them  all,  through 
the  prophet  Ezekiel? "  (See  Ezek.  38-39.)  To  this 
he  would  answer,  "  Yes,  I  know  their  evil  deeds;  but 
perchance  they  will  repent,  if  we  tell  them  of  Jehovah 
and  His  commands.  Then  it  will  not  be  necessary  for 
Him  to  destroy  them."  This  brought  forth  a  reply 
which  deeply  shocked  our  prophet.  ''  We  do  not  want 
them  to  repent.  We  do  not  want  Jehovah  to  forgive  them.'' 
It  was  this  attitude  of  his  fellow  Jews  which  led  him  to 
write  the  story  of  the  prophet  Jonah. 

The  Story  of  Jonah,  and  Its  Message 

The  word  of  Jehovah,  he  says,  came  to  the  prophet 
Jonah,  bidding  him  to  go  to  the  city  Nineveh,  and  preach 
to   the   people   there.     But   Jonah   disobeyed   Jehovah. 


TWO   KINDS   OF   PATRIOTISM  175 

Going  down  to  Joppa  on  the  coast  of  Palestine,  he  took 
passage  in  a  ship  which  was  setting  sail  for  Tarshish, 
an  ancient  Phoenician  colony  in  Spain.  In  other  words, 
instead  of  going  to  Nineveh,  he  was  trying  to  go  as  far 
in  the  opposite  direction  as  possible.  But  Jehovah 
sent  a  storm  upon  the  sea,  and  the  ship  was  in  danger  of 
being  destroyed.  The  sailors  were  therefore  obliged 
to  throw  Jonah  overboard,  as  being  the  cause  of  the  storm. 

Now  Jehovah  had  prepared  a  great  fish,  so  the  story 
goes,  which  swallowed  Jonah,  and  after  three  days 
threw  him  out  again  on  the  shore.  Thus  Jonah  had 
another  chance  to  obey  Jehovah's  command,  and  this 
time  he  went  to  Nineveh,  and  cried  in  the  streets  of  the 
city:  ■'  Yet  forty  days  and  Nineveh  shall  be  destroyed." 
The  result  was  a  great  revival  in  the  city  of  Nineveh. 
The  people  there,  both  small  and  great,  repented  of  their 
wicked  deeds,  and  besought  God's  mercy.  The  king 
himself  joined  in,  and  "  put  on  sackcloth"  and  pro- 
claimed a  fast.  So  when  Jehovah  saw  that  the  Nine- 
vites  had  truly  and  sincerely  repented,  he  forgave  them, 
and  did  not  destroy  the  city.  But  strange  to  say,  this 
displeased  Jonah  exceedingly,  and  he  was  angry.  "  Then 
Jonah  went  out  of  the  city,  and  sat  on  the  east  side  of 
the  city,  and  there  made  him  a  booth,  and  sat  under  it 
in  the  shade,  till  he  might  see  what  would  become  of 
the  city." 

While  Jonah  was  thus  sulking  in  his  booth,  or  hut, 
like  a  spoiled  child,  Jehovah  caused  a  certain  plant  called 
a  kikayon,  or  castor-oil  tree,  to  grow  up  near  by.  In  our 
English  version  it  is  called  a  gourd.  And  Jonah  became 
fond  of  the  graceful  plant  with  its  welcome  shade.  It 
seemed  like  a  friend  to  him  in  his  bitterness.  But  on 
another  day  Jehovah  sent  a  worm  to  gnaw  at  the  roots 
of  the  plant  and  it  withered  away.  And  now  Jonah 
was  even  more  angry  at  Jehovah  than  before.  Then 
God  said  to  Jonah,  in  substance,  You  were  fond  of  the 
gourd,  which  was  but  a  wild  plant,  growing  up  and 
perishing  in  a  day,  and  you  were  sorry  to  see  it  die. 


176  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Can  it  be  that  you  are  willing  without  a  moment's  hesita- 
tion to  condemn  to  destruction  this  great  city  of  Nineveh? 
You  had  bestowed  no  care  or  labor  on  this  plant;  yet 
you  felt  an  affection  for  it.  Do  not  forget  that  I  created 
these  people  of  Nineveh;  and  should  I  not  love  them? 
And  remember,  also,  that  in  this  great  city  there  are 
more  than  a  hundred  and  twenty  thousand  little  children, 
besides  many  dumb  beasts.  Can  they  be  expected  to 
know  the  difference  between  right  and  wrong  that  I 
should  pour  out  fire  and  brimstone  upon  them  and 
destroy  them? 

Through  this  great  and  beautiful  story  the  author 
wished  to  teach  his  fellow  Jews  that  all  men  are  by  nature 
God's  children,  whatever  their  race  or  nationality;  that 
Israel  is  not  to  hold  aloof  from  other  races,  still  less  to 
hate  them ;  but  to  share  with  them  her  knowledge  of  the 
true  God,  and  to  feel  towards  them  something  of  the  same 
love  and  compassion  which  God  feels  toward  all  his 
children. 


CHAPTER  XXIX 

HEBREW  LOVE  SONGS  AND  A  HEBREW 

LOVE  STORY 

The  Song  of  Songs  and  the  Book  of  Ruth 

What  strikes  us  as  strangest  in  the  marriage  customs 
of  the  Old  Testament  is  the  fact  that  marriages  were 
supposed  to  be  arranged  entirely  by  the  parents  of  the 
bride  and  groom.  It  would  seem  that  there  could  not 
have  been  much  of  what  we  call  courtship  or  wooing. 
Often  the  two  persons  to  be  married  never  saw  each 
other  prior  to  the  wedding.  This  seems  to  us  most 
unnatural.  What  if  the  young  man  did  not  care  for 
the  girl  his  parents  had  selected  for  him?  What  if  the 
girl  were  to  find  herself  yoked  up  for  life  with  an  ugly 
tempered,  domineering  tyrant,  old  enough  to  be  her 
father?  As  time  went  on,  many  young  people  rebelled 
against  these  customs.  This  was  especially  the  case 
after  the  Jews  began  to  come  in  closer  contact  with  the 
Persians  and  the  Greeks.  Human  nature  is  much  the 
same  in  every  age.  Hebrew  lads  and  lassies  fell  in  love 
with  each  other,  just  as  our  lads  and  lassies  do;  nor  did 
their  love  always  follow  the  lines  marked  out  by  their 
parents.  Father  and  mother  may  say:  "  Daughter, 
we  have  arranged  for  your  betrothal.  You  are  to  be 
married  to  our  old  neighbor  Bildad."  But  daughter 
is  strangely  lacking  in  gratitude  and  entirely  lacking  in 
enthusiasm  for  Bildad.  In  fact  she  is  decidedly  rebel- 
lious. An  angry  tear  steals  into  her  eye.  Before  the 
betrothal  takes  place  there  is  a  scene  in  the  family  coimcil. 
"  I  will  not  marry  that  old  man,"  says  daughter,  and 
stamps  her  foot.  To  her  mother  she  says:  "Father 
should   be   ashamed.     Why   is   he   so   cruel?  "     *'  Very 

177 


178  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

well,"  says  father;  "  if  this  daughter  of  folly  will  not 
marry  our  neighbor,  she  shall  not  marry  at  all.  Mother, 
let  not  that  idle  scapegrace  of  an  Isaac  come  any  more 
to  this  house." 

After  such  quarrels,  father  and  mother  would  sigh 
for  the  "  good  old  days,"  when  sons  and  daughters  did 
as  they  were  told  and  asked  no  questions. 


The  Song  of  Songs 

There  is  one  book  in  the  Old  Testament  which  seems 
to  prove  conclusively  that  human  nature  was  the  same 
in  ancient  Palestine  as  now.  Love  and  passion  were 
just  as  powerful  and  romance  was  just  as  sweet.  Even 
though  the  customs  were  unfavorable,  Hebrew  youths 
knew  how  to  woo,  and  Hebrew  maids  knew  how  to 
give  their  hearts.  This  book  is  the  Song  of  Songs. 
The  author  probably  lived  between  300  and  200  B.C. 
The  book  does  not  profess  to  be  religious.  It  was 
included  in  the  Old  Testament  only  because  of  the 
tradition  that  Solomon  wrote  it.  It  is  really  a  collection 
of  love  and  marriage  songs.  Some  of  these  poems, 
perhaps  all  of  them,  were  intended  to  be  sung  at  weddings. 
In  Syria,  today,  there  are  usually  several  days  of  feasting 
after  a  wedding,  during  which  time  the  groom  is  called 
the  king,  and  the  bride  the  queen.  There  are  songs 
and  dances  in  their  honor.  This  perhaps  explains  the 
references  to  "  Solomon,"  and  "  the  Shulamite,"  in 
the  Song  of  Songs.  '*  Solomon  "  was  the  groom,  and 
the  "  Shulamite  "  was  the  bride. 

The  meaning  and  beauty  of  these  love-lyrics  is  partially 
obscured  because  they  are  joined  together  as  though 
they  were  a  single  poem.  There  is  nothing  to  indicate 
where  one  poem  ends  and  another  begins.  They  may 
be  disentangled  to  some  extent,  however,  by  studying 
the  changes  in  theme  and  setting.  For  example,  here  is 
a  quotation  from  one  of  the  most  beautiful,  which  may 
be    entitled 


LOVE   SONGS  AND  A   LOVE   STORY       179 

Love  in  Springtime 

**  My  lover  spoke,  and  said  to  me, 
Arise,  my  sweet-heart,  my  beauty,  and  come  away 
For  lo,  the  winter  is  past ; 
The  rain  is  over  and  gone ; 
The  flowers  appear  on  the  earth; 
And  the  time  of  the  singing  is  come, 
And  the  turtledove's  voice  is  heard  in  our  land. 

•*  The  fig  tree  ripens  her  figs, 
And  the  vines  are  in  blossom; 
They  give  forth  their  fragrance. 
Arise,  my  sweetheart,  my  beauty,  and  come  away." 

(Song  of  Songs  2:  8-13.) 

If  used  at  wedding  festivities,  the  above  song  would 
naturally  be  sung  by  the  bride.  The  book  as  a  whole 
seems  to  contain  other  songs  for  the  groom  and  the 
wedding  attendants.  Some  of  these  songs  are  among  the 
most  beautiful  love  poems  of  all  literature. 

The  Book  of  Ruth 

The  author  of  the  story  of  Ruth  probably  lived  in 
an  earlier  age  than  the  poet  who  wrote  the  Song  of  Songs. 
Even  in  his  time  the  "  good  old  days  "  were  already 
past.  Love  and  custom  were  frequently  in  sharp  con- 
flict. This  man  was  one  of  the  truest  and  noblest  souls 
in  all  the  history  of  Israel.  He  had  a  wonderful  insight 
into  the  secrets  of  the  human  heart  and  the  deepest 
needs  of  human  life.  He  knew  perfectly  well  that 
young  lives  crave  love,  and  that  love  resents  the 
cold  restraints  of  prudence  and  tradition.  He  knew 
that  love  is  of  infinitely  greater  worth  than  material 
prosperity.  On  the  other  hand,  he  had  lived  long  enough 
to  realize  that  people  are  sometimes  led  into  sad  mis- 
takes by  following  a  temporary  infatuation.  .He  also 
realized  that  more  is  at  stake  in  a  marriage  than  the 
individual  happiness  of  two  persons.  The  weal  or 
woe  of  the  whole  community  is  involved.     He  was  a 


180  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

great  believer,  therefore,  in  family  loyalty  and  wished 
young  people  to  be  guided  by  this  motive  more  than 
by  their  self -centered  impulses,  in  the  selection  of  a  wife 
or  husband. 

With  these  convictions  in  his  heart,  he  came  upon 
the  tradition  of  Ruth.  It  had  been  cherished  for  cen- 
turies in  Bethlehem,  the  birthplace  of  David,  as  an 
interesting  chapter  in  that  great  man's  family  history. 
Out  of  that  tradition  this  writer  created  a  story  which 
is  immortal.     The  substance  of  it  is  as  follows: 

On  account  of  a  famine  in  Judah,  a  certain  Bethlehemite 
named  Elimelech  was  compelled  to  migrate  to  the  land 
of  Moab,  with  his  wife  Naomi,  and  his  two  sons.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  these  two  sons  married  Moabitish 
women,  named  Orpah  and  Ruth.  Soon,  however,  a 
new  trouble  befell  the  family,  for  EHmelech  died,  and  his 
sons  also. 

For  a  time  the  three  women  lived  together  in  their 
common  sorrow,  but  soon  it  seemed  best  for  Naomi 
to  return  to  Bethlehem  where  she  owned  a  little  property. 
So  the  three  set  out  together  on  the  long  walk  of  more 
than  thirty  miles  around  the  northern  end  of  the  Dead 
Sea.  Before  they  had  gone  far,  Naomi  besought  the 
two  girls  to  return  to  their  own  people.  She  explained 
to  them  that  by  so  doing  they  would  have  a  better  chance 
to  get  for  themselves  desirable  husbands.  And  Orpah 
did  finally  bid  her  mother-in-law  farewell.  Ruth,  how- 
ever, would  not  go  back.  She  felt  herself  bound  to 
Naomi  by  too  many  sacred  memories.  "  Entreat  me 
not  to  leave  thee,"  she  said,  "  and  to  return  from  follow- 
ing after  thee;  for  whither  thou  goest,  I  will  go,  and 
where  thou  lodgest,  I  will  lodge;  thy  people  shall  be  my 
people,  and  thy  God,  my  God;  where  thou  diest,  I  will 
die,  and  there  will  I  be  buried.  Jehovah  do  so  to  me 
and  more  also,  if  aught  but  death  part  thee  and  me." 
So  the  author  goes  on  to  tell  how  the  two  women  came 
to  Bethlehem;  how  they  were  in  great  poverty;  and 


RUTH   THE   MOABITESS. 

From  "  Dramatic  Stones  from  the  Bible,"  by  Emma 
Florence  Eaton,  by  permission  of  the  author. 


LOVE   SONGS  AND  A   LOVE   STORY       181 

how  Ruth,  to  obtain  food  for  the  two  of  them,  went  out 
to  glean  behind  the  reapers  in  the  barley-harvest. 

Now  it  happened  that  the  fair  young  gleaner  came  to 
the  field  of  a  certain  man  named  Boaz,  a  wealthy  relative 
of  Naomi  through  her  former  husband  Elimelech.  About 
noon,  Boaz  himself  came  out  from  the  village  to  the  yellow 
barley  field  to  see  how  the  work  was  going.  As  he 
talked  with  the  foreman  of  the  reapers  he  noticed  the 
young  woman  standing  with  his  own  harvest  girls 
and  gathering  the  scattered  handfuls  of  grain.  "  Whose 
maiden  is  this?"  said  Boaz.  **  It  is  Ruth  the  Moabitess," 
the  man  replied,  "  who  came  back  w^ith  Naomi  from 
the  country  of  Moab."  Now  Boaz  had  already  heard 
from  the  neighbors  about  Ruth's  splendid  fidelity  to 
her  mother-in-law  and  as  he  saw  her  grace  and  beauty, 
his  heart  was  draw^n  to  her.  So  in  a  few  moments,  Ruth 
looked  up  and  saw  him  standing  near  her,  tall  and 
handsome,  and  with  eyes  full  of  kindness.  "  Do  not 
go  to  glean  in  another  field,  my  daughter,"  he  said, 
*'  but  stay  here  by  my  maidens."  Then  he  added: 
"  It  hath  been  fully  showed  me  all  that  thou  hast  done 
unto  thy  mother-in-law,  since  the  death  of  thy  husband. 
Jehovah  recompense  thee,  and  a  full  reward  be  given 
thee  of  Jehovah  the  God  of  Israel  under  whose  wings 
thou  art  come  to  take  refuge." 

Soon  after  that  it  was  dinner  time  and  a  table  was 
set  for  the  young  men  and  maidens  in  a  shady  comer 
of  the  field.  Boaz  sat  down  with  the  others  in  the  good 
old  simple  manner,  and  he  beckoned  Ruth  to  sit  beside 
him  in  the  merry  company.  He  saw  to  it  that  she  had 
all  that  she  needed,  and  more  beside,  to  take  home  to  her 
mother. 

That  night  when  she  went  home  and  told  Naomi  of 
her  experiences,  she  was  full  of  talk  about  the  kind 
gentleman  with  the  handsome  bronzed  face.  She  now 
learned  that  this  man  was  a  near  kinsman  of  the  family. 
According  to  the  law  of  those  days  when  a  man  died 
childless  it  was  the  duty  of  the  nearest  kinsman  to  marry 


182  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

the  widow.  The  children  would  bear  the  first  husband's 
name.  Now  there  was  living  in  Bethlehem  a  man  who  was 
even  more  closely  related  than  Boaz  to  the  family  of  Naomi. 
But  that  good  lady,  shrewd  and  kind  old  matchmaker  that 
she  was,  soon  laid  her  plans.  Ruth  was  to  marry  Boaz. 
They  were  in  love  with  each  other,  that  was  plain.  In  such 
cases,  according  to  the  Hebrew  custom,  it  was  proper  to 
send  Ruth  to  make  the  first  advances.  So  the  girl,  follow- 
ing Naomi's  instructions,  went  trembling  on  her  sweet 
errand.  And  Boaz  said  to  her:  "  Blessed  be  thou  of 
Jehovah,  my  daughter,  thou  hast  shown  more  kindness 
in  this  last  instance  than  at  the  beginning,  since  thou 
hast  not  gone  after  young  men,  whether  poor  or  rich." 
Boaz  meant  that  she  might  have  been  expected  to  prefer 
a  younger  man  than  he;  but  that  by  following  the  old 
custom,  and  choosing  a  near  relative  of  her  first  husband, 
she  had  shown  a  beautiful,  loyalty  to  her  family,  just  as 
when  she  had  come  with  Naomi  all  the  way  from  Moab. 
So  Ruth  and  Boaz  were  married.  It  was  in  accord- 
ance with  the  accepted  customs,  yet  it  was  a  love- 
match  too.  And  from  this  ideal  marriage  came  a  son, 
who  in  turn  became  the  grandfather  of  David.  Follow 
the  path  of  duty  —  this  is  the  author's  message.  Be 
unselfishly  loyal  to  those  family  ties  which  are  already 
upon  you;  and  you  may  be  sure  that  love  and  romance 
and  happiness  will  all  come  to  you  in  their  own  good  time. 


CHAPTER  XXX 

WISE  MEN  WHO  TAUGHT  IN   THE  GATE 
The  Story  of  the  Book  of  Proverbs 

It  seems  strange  to  us  to  speak  of  a  "  city  gate  **  as 
a  place  in  which  to  teach.  The  difficulty  is  explained 
by  the  fact  that  the  Hebrews  applied  the  word  "  gate  '* 
to  the  broad  area  in  front  of  the  actual  opening  in  the 
city  wall.  The  ''  city  gate  "  corresponds,  therefore,  to 
the  public  square  in  a  modern  town. 

Suppose  we  visit  one  of  these  "  gates  "  in  imagination. 
It  is  early  morning.  Everything  is  noise  and  confusion. 
Here  are  merchants  peddling  their  wares:  wheat,  dates, 
honey,  wine  and  other  things  to  eat  or  drink;  or  perchance 
wool  and  flax  and  other  materials  for  the  manufacture 
of  clothing.  Customers,  men  and  women,  are  haggling 
with  the  traders  in  true  Oriental  style;  each  one  is  pro- 
claiming in  a  loud,  shrill  voice  and  with  many  gestures 
that  the  price  he  is  asked  to  pay  or  take  is  a  robbery 
and  an  outrage.  Besides  the  merchants,  there  are 
judges.  Here  sits  one  of  the  city  elders  with  a  long 
white  beard.  Before  him  are  two  farmers  who  are  dis- 
puting about  the  boundary  line  between  their  fields. 
Each  has  brought  his  witnesses.  There  is  a  fringe  of 
curious  spectators  looking  on. 

In  fact  everything  is  happening  here  which  may  be 
expected  to  happen  when  a  crowd  of  people  get  together. 
Out  in  the  middle  of  the  area  some  children  are  playing 
a  noisy  game,  perhaps  something  like  our  "  duck  on  the 
rock."  Every  now  and  then  a  mangy  yellow  dog  noses 
his  way  through  the  crowd  looking  for  scraps  of  food. 
On  the  whole,  it  is  not  what  we  would  call  an  attractive 
place.     The  ground  is  littered  with  all  kinds  of  dirt. 

183 


184  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Our  nose  is  assaulted  by  a  variety  of  odors.  But  the 
ancients  did  not  seem  to  object  to  these  things  as  much 
as  we  do.  At  any  rate  they  loved  to  be  where  they 
could  see  their  neighbors  and  hear  the  news. 

The  Wise  Man 

In  one  comer  of  the  city  gate,  we  notice  a  dignified 
figure ;  an  old  man  with  a  circle  of  friends.  He  is  watching 
the  varied  scenes  before  him  and  occasionally  talking 
with  those  about  him.  '*  Who  is  that  old  man?"  we 
ask.  "  That  is  one  of  the  wise  men,"  we  are  told.  These 
wise  men  in  ancient  Israel  were  students,  and  artists, 
and  teachers.  As  students  their  business  was  to  study 
human  life.  They  loved  to  "  sit  in  the  gate  "  and  watch 
the  merchants,  and  the  judges,  and  the  boys  and  girls. 
As  artists  they  sought  to  describe  what  they  saw  in 
proverbs;  that  is,  in  short  sentences,  pithy  and  unfor- 
gettable. This  was  a  form  of  literary  art  much  admired 
by  all  Oriental  nations  and  not  altogether  neglected  even 
among  us  today.  Benjamin  Franklin's  ''  Poor  Richard's 
Almanac  "  is  our  best-known  example. 

As  teachers,  the  mission  of  the  wise  men  was  to  give 
to  younger  and  less  experienced  people  the  benefit 
of  their  practical  good  sense,  and  their  tried  and  tested 
conclusions.  A  large  number  of  their  sayings  are  pre- 
served in  certain  Old  Testament  books,  especially  the 
book  of  Proverbs. 

Let  us  sit  for  a  little  while  beside  the  wise  man  in  this 
city  gate  and  look  at  the  human  kaleidoscope  through  his 
eyes.     We  shall  be  surprised  to  see  how  interesting  it  is. 

Here,  for  example,  comes  young  Mr.  Know-it-all. 
He  wears  stylish  clothes,  and  throws  out  his  chest,  and 
walks  with  a  swagger.  His  father  and  mother  and  all 
his  aunts  and  uncles  have  always  told  him  that  he  was 
the  most  clever  person  in  the  world;  and  of  course  he 
agrees  with  them.  He  will  listen  to  no  advice.  In  fact 
he  is  offended  if  any  one  ventures  to  offer  it. 


WISE  MEN  WHO  TAUGHT  IN  THE  GATE     185 

"  Seest  thou  a  man  wise  in  his  own  conceit?  "  says  oiir  friend. 
"  There  is  more  hope  for  a  fool  than  for  him."     (Prov.  26: 12.) 

We  also  see  that  the  wise  man  has  a  keen  sense  of  humor. 
He  loves  to  smile  at  the  little  foibles  of  human  nature. 
For  example,  he  has  been  listening  to  one  of  those  shout- 
ing, wrangling  groups  of  traders  and  bargain-hunters, 
and  this  is  his  dry  comment : 

"  Bad,  bad,  says  the  buyer, 
But  when  he  is  gone  his  way,  then  he  boasts."   (Prov.  20:  14.) 

The  wise  man  is  also  much  amused  at  the  great  reputation 
some  people  acquire,  just  by  keeping  still  and  looking 
wise : 

"  Even  a  fool,  if  he  holds  his  peace,  is  considered  wise. 
When  he  keeps  his  mouth  shut,  he  is  called  prudent."     (Prov. 
17:28.) 

But  though  he  is  so  keen  to  puncture  conceit  with  his 
wit,  and  so  ready  to  laugh  men  out  of  their  petty  follies, 
we  find  nevertheless  that  the  wise  man  has  a  tender  heart. 
He  sympathizes  with  the  mother  who  has  waited  so 
long  for  news  from  her  boy,  who  went  away  from  home. 
He  knows  that 

*'  Hope  deferred  maketh  the  heart  sick."     (Prov.  13 :  12.) 

And  he  is  almost  as  happy  as  she  is  when  a  letter  comes 
from  him  at  last : 

*'  As  cold  water  to  a  thirsty  soul. 
So  is  good  news  from  a  far  country."     (Prov.  25:  25.) 

He  has  a  ready  sympathy  for  those  who  are  anxious 
and  troubled  and  discouraged: 

"  The  spirit  of  a  man  will  endure  misfortune. 
But  a  broken  spirit  who  can  bear?  "     (Prov.  18: 17.) 

Best  of  all  he  knows  the  value  of  friendly  encouragement:. 

*'  Care  in  the  heart  of  a  man,  maketh  it  stoop. 
But  a  kind  word  maketh  it  glad.*'     (Prov.  12:  25.) 


186  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

He  himself  has  spoken  many  such  kind  words  to  those 
who  are  broken  in  spirit  and  has  given  them  new  heart 
for  the  battle  of  life. 


The  Wise  Man  as  a  Teacher 

With  this  keen  insight  into  human  nature,  it  was  natural 
that  many  should  come  to  the  wise  man  for  advice. 
There  were  tricksters  in  those  days,  just  as  now,  and 
there  were  **  greenhorns  "  to  be  cheated.  One  favorite 
method  of  separating  simpletons  from  their  money  was 
to  persuade  them  to  act  as  surety  for  a  loan.  "  Just 
shake  hands  with  me  before  witnesses,"  the  smooth- 
tongued stranger  would  say,  "  and  I  will  guarantee  not 
only  to  repay  the  money,  but  to  make  us  both  rich  beside. 
A  friend  of  mine  is  coming  with  a  caravan  of  wonderful 
silks  from  Damascus,  which  he  will  sell  me  for  a  mere 
song.  All  I  need  is  a  hundred  shekels,  and  I  can  sell 
the  silks  for  a  thousand."  So  the  poor  fool  would  shake 
hands  with  the  stranger,  which  corresponded  to  our 
modem  custom  of  putting  one's  name  on  a  note ;  and  the 
man  would  immediately  take  the  money  and  disappear, 
leaving  his  victim  to  repay  the  loan.  "Be  on  your 
guard  against  these  sharpers,"  the  wise  men  were  con- 
stantly saying.     (See  Prov.  22:26-27.) 

In  addition  to  this  practical  shrewdness  in  money-mat- 
ters, the  wise  men  were  often  able  to  set  the  feet  of  their 
yoimg  hearers  on  the  paths  of  uprightness,  and  lead  them 
to  the  highest  happiness  and  peace.  Their  eyes  were 
open  to  the  dangers  of  intoxicating  liquor. 

"  Wine  is  a  mocker,  strong  drink  is  a  brawler, 
And  whosoever  erreth  thereby  is  not  wise."     (Prov.  20: 1. 
See  also  23: 29-35.) 

They  were  not  blind  to  the  temptation  to  greed,  nor 
to  the  wrongs  which  were  inflicted  upon  the  poor  by  the 
rich.  They  therefore  lifted  up  their  voice  in  a  plea 
for  justice  and  mercy: 


WISE  MEN  WHO  TAUGHT  IN  THE  GATE     187 

"  He  that  oppresses  the  poor,  reviles  his  Maker, 
But  he  who  has  mercy  on  the  needy  honors  Him."     (Prov. 
14: 31.     See  also  21: 13,  and  23: 10-11.) 

What  seems  to  have  distressed  the  wise  men  most  of 
all,  as  they  looked  out  upon  life,  was  the  heart-breaking 
estrangements  which  they  saw  between  men  who  should 
have  been  friends.  One  of  the  most  notable  characteristics 
of  the  book  of  Proverbs  is  the  large  number  of  exhorta- 
tions to  self-control,  and  charity,  and  forgiveness,  which 
it  contains. 

"  A  fool  utters  all  his  anger. 
But  a  wise  man  keeps  it  back."     (Prov.  29:  11.) 

"  He  who  covers  up  transgression  seeks  love; 
But  he  who  harps  on  a  matter,  alienates  his  friend."     (Prov. 
17:9.) 

Since  the  wise  men  felt  so  strongly  on  this  point, 
we  are  not  surprised  to  find  that  they  kept  their  most 
scathing  condemnations  for  tale-bearers  and  trouble- 
makers. Too  often  they  had  seen  men  who  had  been 
dear  friends,  passing  each  other  with  averted  faces. 
Some  lying  scandal-monger  had  been  sowing  his  evil 
seed!  If  you  have  anything  to  say  against  a  man,  say 
it  to  his  face,  the  wise  men  urged.  Don't  talk  about 
him  behind  his  back! 

"  He  who  winks  with  the  eye,  causes  trouble: 
But  he  who  reproves  openly  makes  peace."     (Prov.  10:  10. 
See  also  25: 23,  and  26: 20.) 

The  Later  Wise  Men:  The  Book  of  Proverbs 

As  regards  the  date  when  the  earliest  of  the  sayings 
of  the  wise  men  were  written,  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
come  to  any  conclusion.  The  collection  of  sayings 
which  has  come  dow^n  to  us  as  the  book  of  Proverbs 
was  probably  completed  after  the  Greeks  entered  Pales- 
tine, that  is,  after  333  B.C.  Like  the  book  of  Psalms, 
it  was  made  up  of  several  earlier  and  smaller  collections. 


188  THE   STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

Later  tradition  called  Solomon  the  author,  on  account 
of  his  reputation  for  wisdom.  The  wise  men  were  at 
the  zenith  of  their  popularity  and  influence  during  this 
Greek  period  in  Jewish  history.  The  people  had  lost 
faith  in  the  prophets,  excepting  those  of  former  times, 
whose  writings  had  come  down  to  them.  Hence  no  one 
tried  to  speak  as  a  prophet.  So  it  came  about  that  the 
wise  men  became  for  a  time  the  chief  moral  and  religious 
leaders  of  the  people.  They  really  were  prophets  under 
another  name.  They  no  longer  confined  themselves 
to  the  coining  of  short  proverbs  but  composed  longer 
discourses  more  like  the  addresses  of  the  prophets,  calling 
upon  men  to  seek  wisdom,  and  to  walk  in  the  path  of 
righteousness.  The  first  nine  chapters  of  the  book 
of  Proverbs  are  largely  made  up  of  these  more  extended 
discourses. 

These  later  wise  men  were  also  like  the  prophets  in 
claiming  that  God  had  inspired  their  words.  They 
grasped  the  sublime  thought  that  all  human  wisdom  is 
from  God,  and  that  God  sends  to  every  man  just  as 
much  of  the  light  of  his  truth  as  the  man  is  able  and  will- 
ing to  receive.     Hence, 

*'  The  path  of  the  righteous  is  as  a  dawning  light, 
That  shineth  more  and  more  unto  the  perfect  day."     (Prov. 
4: 18.) 


CHAPTER  XXXI 

A  MAN  UNJUSTLY  CONDEMNED 
The  Author  of  the  Book  of  Job 

When  San  Francisco  was  destroyed  by  an  earthquake, 
in  the  year  1906,  many  people  explained  the  catastrophe 
as  a  punishment  sent  on  the  city  by  the  Almighty, 
because  of  its  wickedness.  In  all  ages  and  to  some  extent 
even  today,  men  have  been  inclined  to  interpret  any 
unusual  calamity  as  the  result  of  wrong-doing.  In  our 
every-day  life  also,  we  are  easily  biased  against  the 
poor,  the  ragged  and  the  "  down  and  out."  ''It  is 
probably  their  own  fault,"  we  say,  while  on  the  other 
hand,  it  is  hard  for  us  to  beHeve  that  a  rich,  successful 
and  prosperous  citizen  can  possibly  be  a  scoundrel. 
Half  unconsciously  we  assume  that  all  pain  and  sorrow 
must  be  the  direct  consequence  of  sin  and  that  good 
fortune  is  always  the  reward  of  virtue. 

Among  the  ancient  Jews  this  assumption  was  the 
generally  accepted  beHef.  When  Jesus  and  his  disciples 
came  one  day  upon  a  wayside  beggar,  who  had  been 
blind  from  his  birth,  the  disciples  asked  the  Master, 
"  Rabbi,  who  hath  sinned,  this  man  or  his  parents, 
that  he  was  bom  blind?  "  A  more  heartless  doctrine^ 
never  existed.  Jesus  did  not  accept  it.  To  be  sure, 
like  many  such  mistaken  beliefs  it  contained  a  half 
truth.  Much  of  the  world's  sorrow  is  no  doubt  caused 
by  wrong-doing.  But  as  a  result  of  this  extreme  and 
one-sided  idea,  men  are  led  to  stifle  their  natural  sym- 
pathies, and  to  become  the  more  cold  and  suspicious 
toward  a  fellow-creature,  the  greater  and  more  pitiable 
his  distress. 

189 


190  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

A  Great-Souled  Man 

The  author  of  the  book  of  Job  was  a  victim  of  this 
cruel  beUef.  He  probably  lived  within  a  century  of 
Nehemiah's  time,  either  before  or  after.  We  can  infer 
something  about  the  facts  of  his  life  from  his  book.  In  a 
general  way,  although  not  in  detail,  his  own  experiences 
are  probably  reflected  in  the  main  character  of  the  book. 
He  belonged  to  the  class  of  "  wise  men."  No  doubt 
he  had  many  pupils  and  occupied  a  position  of  honor 
in  the  community.  Few  teachers  ever  inspired  their 
hearers  with  nobler  ideals,  for  he  was  filled  with  a  great 
love  for  justice  and  mercy  and  truth.  The  thirty -first 
chapter  of  his  book  is  one  of  the  greatest  descriptions 
of  a  righteous  man  to  be  found  in  all  literature.  It  is 
too  little  known  and  appreciated.  It  has  been  said  that 
its  sentences  "  prick  the  conscience  like  needles.'*  The 
man  who  wrote  it  was  one  of  God's  noblemen.  He  was 
pure  in  heart,  a  friend  of  the  fatherless  and  the  widow, 
a  champion  of  the  oppressed.  He  reverenced  all  human 
beings,  even  slaves,  as  created  in  the  image  of  God. 
He  was  just  and  honorable  in  all  things.  He  walked  with 
God,  and  was  conscious  of  God's  presence  with  him  from 
day  to  day. 

The  Coming  of  Adversity 

Into  this  quiet,  happy  life  as  a  respected  friend  and 
neighbor  and  a  revered  moral  counsellor,  came  misfortune. 
Perhaps  it  was  an  epidemic  of  disease  sweeping  away  his 
children.  Perhaps  it  was  the  loss  of  his  property. 
Perhaps  it  was  some  bodily  infirmity.  We  can  only 
infer  from  his  book  that  it  was  very  painful  and  that 
the  facts  regarding  it  were  known  by  all. 

Such  a  misfortune  would  have  been  hard  enough  to 
bear  at  any  time  and  under  any  circumstances.  But  far 
worse  than  the  misfortune  itself,  to  this  man's  sensitive 
nature,  was  the  social  ostracism  and  unfeeling  con- 
demnation, to  which  in  those  days  such  a  sufferer  found 
himself  subjected.     His  neighbors  whispered  among  them- 


A   MAN   UNJUSTLY   CONDEMNED         191 

selves  as  he  passed  them.  His  old  friends  became  cold 
to  him.  When  wistfully  he  stretched  out  his  hands 
towards  them,  they  rebuffed  him.  Formerly  he  had 
been  a  leader. 

**  When  I  went  forth  to  the  gate  unto  the  city, 
When  I  prepared  my  seat  in  the  broad  place, 
The  young  men  saw  me  and  hid  themselves ; 
The  aged  rose  up  and  stood; 
The  princes  refrained  from  talking 
And  laid  their  hand  on  their  mouth."     (Job  29:  7-8.) 

Now,  however,  he  is  treated  with  disrespect  and  even 
contempt. 

"  But  now,  I  am  become  their  song. 
Yea,  I  am  a  byword  unto  them; 
They  abhor  me,  they  stand  aloof  from  me, 
And  spare  not  to  spit  at  the  sight  of  me."     (Job  30:  9-10.) 

Those  who  had  grudges  against  him  invented  lies  about 
him,  which  were  widely  believed.  Like  the  Jewish 
officer  Dreyfus  in  the  French  army,  or  the  apostle 
Paul  among  his  own  people,  he  was  reduced  to  the  posi- 
tion of  an  outcast  and  a  pariah. 


The  Need  of  God's  Sympathy 

Such  men  as  Paul  could  still  turn  to  God,  when  for- 
saken by  their  fellowmen,  and  find  comfort  in  the 
assurance  that  God  understood  all.  But  the  author  of 
Job  was  denied  that  supreme  solace,  for  he  himself  had 
been  trained  in  the  beliefs  of  his  time,  and  supposed 
that  God  was  punishing  him.  To  be  sure,  God  was 
supposed  to  know  all  things,  and  it  would  seem  that 
He  must  know  that  this  man  was  not  what  his  neighbors 
said.  But  why  then  was  God  sending  this  suffering? 
So  the  man  could  only  keep  saying  to  himself,  "  Even 
God  does  not  understand!  Why  does  He  think  that  I 
am  wicked?  What  have  I  done?  Why  does  He  not 
love  me  any  more?  " 


192  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

He  was  haunted  by  the  desire  to  meet  God  somehow 
face  to  face,  so  that  he  coiild  explain  to  Him  his  side  of 
the  case. 

"  O  that  I  knew  where  I  might  find  Him, 
That  I  might  come  even  to  His  throne. 

"  I  would  order  my  cause  before  him, 
And  fill  my  mouth  with  arguments. 
I  would  know  the  words  which  he  would  answer  me. 
And  understand  what  he  would  say  to  me. 
Would  he  contend  with  me  in  the  greatness  of  his  power  ? 
Nay  but  he  would  give  heed  unto  me."     (Job  23:  2-6.) 

Sometimes  he  dreamed  of  a  future  Hfe  beyond  the  grave 
when  he  would  see  and  talk  with  God,  and  the  clouds 
of  misunderstanding  between  them  would  all  be  rolled 

away. 

*'  If  a  man  die  shall  he  live  again? 
All  the  days  of  my  warfare  would  I  wait; 
Thou  wouldst  call,  and  I  would  answer  thee. 
Thou  wouldst  yearn  for  me,  the  work  of  thy  hands."     (Job 
14:  14-15.) 

Thus  he  became  one  of  those  who  first  taught  the  world 
the  value  of  the  hope  of  immortality. 

Finding  God  by  a  New  Path 

He  did  not  need  to  wait  for  a  future  life,  however, 
before  his  longings  were  satisfied.  In  the  midst  of  his 
despair  the  thought  came  to  him,  perhaps  the  old  doctrine 
was  not  wholly  true.  Perhaps  we  should  not  suppose 
that  all  human  sorrow  is  the  result  of  sin  and  is  to  be 
interpreted  as  punishment  from  God.  God  is  infinitely 
greater  and  wiser  than  we ;  surely  He  may  have  a  purpose 
in  sending  pain,  which  we  cannot  map  out  in  our  little 
human  creeds.  Who  are  we  to  think  that  we  can  under- 
stand the  plans  and  purposes  of  God? 

"  Where  wast  thou  when  I  laid  the  foundations  of  the  earth? 
Declare,  if  thou  hast  understanding. 


C'/'yyi.i.'ht  /'\  the  Curtis  Pii/^/ishiiic  Co. 

"  WHEN   I    CONSIDER    THY    HEAVENS 


A  MAN  UNJUSTLY  CONDEMNED         193 

Whereupon  were  the  foiindations  of  the  earth  fastened 
Or  who  laid  the  cornerstone  thereof: 
When  the  morning  stars  sang  together, 
And  all  the  sons  of  God  shouted  for  joy? 

'*  Or  who  shut  up  the  sea  with  doors 
When  it  brake  forth  and  issued  out  of  the  womb : 
When  I  made  clouds  the  garment  thereof, 
And  thick  darkness  a  swaddling-band  for  it? 

"And  marked  out  for  it  my  bound, 
And  set  bars  and  doors, 

And  said,  Hitherto  shalt  thou  come  but  no  further, 
And  here  shall  thy  proud  waves  be  stayed."    (Job  38 :  6-11.) 

As  he  reflected,  other  facts  came  to  mind  which  bore 
out  this  new  idea.  He  had  known  others  who  had 
suffered  much  and  had  been  called  sinners,  but  he  now 
began  to  believe  that  they  too  had  been  innocent.  He 
knew  that  some  of  those  upon  whom  fortune  seemed  to 
smile  were  really  scoundrels.  The  more  he  thought 
about  it,  the  more  certain  he  became  that  that  old  and 
universally  accepted  belief  was  a  mistaken  one. 

**  But  then,  it  follows,"  he  thought,  '*  that  my  own 
troubles  are  not  necessarily  a  sign  of  God's  displeasure. 
I  may  believe  that  God  after  all  does  understand;  He 
is  not  punishing  me;  He  loves  me  still."  So  like  some 
sobbing  child  who  has  mistakenly  supposed  that  his 
father  has  rebuked  him,  this  troubled  heart  found  peace 
in  the  Divine  Father's  arms:  "  My  child,"  God  seemed 
to  say,  **  it  was  you  who  did  not  understand." 

The  existence  of  evil  in  the  world  is  one  of  the  problems 
which  mankind  has  not  yet  solved.  This  great  man, 
through  his  own  experience  and  his  own  longings,  was 
led  to  take  one  important  step  towards  its  solution. 
He  was  at  least  able  to  refute  the  old  theory  that  good 
fortune  is  always  a  reward  for  right  conduct  and  that 
evil  fortune  is  always  retribution  for  wrong-doing.  Did 
he  ever  ask  the  further  question,  "  What  then  is  the  true 
explanation  of  sorrow  and  pain?  "     Probably  not.     In 


194  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

all  likelihood  he  was  content  to  have  demolished  that 
old  doctrine  which  had  led  him  to  suppose  that  God 
did  not  understand  him.  No  matter  what  misfortune 
might  come,  or  how  he  might  be  accused  by  men,  he 
could  never  again  be  estranged  from  God;  for  now  he 
could  say,  "  My  Father  knows  that  I  am  guiltless." 


CHAPTER  XXXII 

A  MAN  WHO  THOUGHT  FOR  HIMSELF 

The  Story  of  the  Book  of  Job 

Into  the  hands  of  the  man  whose  life-story  is  told 
in  the  preceding  chapter,  there  fell  one  day  a  small 
book  which  greatly  stirred  him.  It  was  a  story  about 
a  certain  righteous  man  named  Job  who  lived  in  the 
land  of  Uz,  east  of  Canaan.  At  the  beginning  of  the 
story  Job  was  very  prosperous.  He  had  great  posses- 
sions, such  as  lands,  houses,  sheep  and  cattle.  He  was 
also  happy  in  his  family  life,  having  many  sons  and 
daughters.  Nor  did  this  prosperity  make  him  proud, 
but  he  continued  to  live  as  an  htmible  and  upright  servant 
of  Jehovah. 

One  day,  however,  there  was  a  council  in  heaven 
and  all  the  angels  came  to  report  to  Jehovah  what  they 
had  been  doing.  Among  them  was  one  called  ''  the 
Satan."  In  those  days  this  word  ''Satan"  was  not  used 
as  meaning  the  Evil  One,  but  rather  as  the  designation 
of  a  heavenly  official  whose  special  duty,  as  people  sup- 
posed, was  to  report  to  Jehovah  any  evil  that  needed 
to  be  investigated.  On  this  occasion,  the  Satan  brought 
an  accusation  against  Job,  declaring  that  his  seeming 
goodness  was  prompted  by  selfish  motives.  "  Doth 
Job  serve  God  for  naught?  "  he  asked.  "  Take  away 
his  prosperity  and  he  will  curse  thee  to  thy  face."  So, 
in  order  to  give  Job  a  chance  to  prove  these  charges 
false,  Jehovah  gave  permission  to  the  Satan  to  bring 
trouble  upon  him. 

It  came  to  pass,  therefore,  that  all  his  flocks  and  herds 
were  destroyed  and  all  his  property  swept  aw^ay.  His 
sons  and  daughters  were  slain;  and  at  last,  Job  himself 

195 


196  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

was  stricken  down  with  leprosy,  the  most  dreaded  of  all 
diseases.  His  wife  besought  him  to  curse  God  and  die. 
Three  friends  came  to  comfort  him,  Eliphaz  the  Temanite, 
Bildad  the  Shuhite,  and  Zophar  the  Naamathite,  and  they 
were  so  horrified  by  his  condition  that  they  sat  in  silence 
for  seven  days.  But  through  it  all  Job  remained  patient 
and  loyal  to  Jehovah.  "  Jehovah  gave,"  he  said,  "  and 
Jehovah  hath  taken  away.  Blessed  be  the  name  of 
Jehovah." 

The  Origin  of  a  Great  Literary  Masterpiece 

With  the  teachings  of  this  story,  the  wise  man  of 
whom  we  are  speaking  found  himself  in  agreement. 
It  showed  that  God  sometimes  allows  even  innocent 
persons  to  suffer.  He  also,  like  Job  in  the  story,  had 
learned  to  cling  to  his  faith  in  God  no  matter  what 
troubles  may  come.  He  did  not  believe,  however, 
that  such  trust  ought  to  consist  in  submission  to  the 
mistaken  ideas  of  other  men  about  God  and  God's 
dealings. 

As  he  pondered  over  the  story  he  felt  within  him  the 
stirrings  of  a  great  idea.  He  determined  to  add  to  it 
a  series  of  dialogues  between  Job  and  those  three  friends 
who  came  to  comfort  him.  Possibly  he  got  the  idea 
of  the  dialogues  from  the  Greek  dramas,  or  from  the 
famous  dialogues  of  Plato,  the  great  Athenian  philosopher. 
At  any  rate,  he  produced  a  masterpiece  of  the  imagination 
which  is  more  like  a  drama  than  anything  else  in  the 
literature  of  the  ancient  Hebrews,  and  which  in  literary 
greatness  has  only  three  or  four  equals  in  the  literature 
of  the  world.  His  purpose  was  to  help  other  troubled 
and  disconsolate  souls  who  had  lost  their  sense  of  God's 
presence  and  sympathy  because  of  their  misfortimes. 
He  would  show  through  the  mouth  of  Job  how  he  himself 
had  struggled  and  agonized  and  how  only  by  rejecting 
the  usual  belief  about  rewards  and  punishments  had  he 
found  peace  at  last.     He  was  filled  with  a  passionate 


A  MAN  WHO  THOUGHT  FOR  HIMSELF     197 

desire   to   refute   forever   that   old   doctrine   which  had 
cruelly  tortured  so  many. 

Job,  the  Three  Friends/ and  God 

The  author  represents  the  three  friends  as  accepting 
the  orthodox  belief.  Hence,  like  the  author's  old  neigh- 
bors, they  cannot  give  Job  any  real  sympathy.  In- 
stead, they  keep  trying  to  make  him  confess  that  he  has 
been  a  sinner.  (See  Job  4:17-19,  and  22:5-7.)  Job 
at  last  cries  out  against  them.  "  Miserable  comforters 
are  ye  all."  (Job  16:2.)  In  answer  to  the  charges  of 
his  friends,  Job  insists  that  he  knows  of  no  great  crimes 
to  confess. 

"  Till  I  die  I  will  not  put  away  mine  integrity  from  me, 
My  righteousness  I  hold  fast  and  will  not  let  it  go."     Qob 
27:4-6.) 

The  most  remarkable  passages  in  these  dialogues  are 
those  which  express  Job's  varying  attitudes  toward 
God.  They  reveal  to  us  the  tortured  writhings  of  those 
dreadful  days  in  the  author's  own  experience  when  he 
thought  God  was  angry  with  him.  Job  is  represented 
sometimes  as  feeling  that  God  is  a  kind  of  revengeful 
Giant,  or  an  omnipresent  Spy,  whose  eye  was  constantly 
upon  him  with  a  hostile  stare. 

"  Am  I  a  demon  of  the  abyss,  or  a  sea-monster. 
That  thou  settest  a  watch  over  me  ? 
How  long  wilt  thou  not  look  away  from  me 
Nor  let  me  alone  till  I  swallow  down  my  spittle?"     (Job 
7:  12-19.) 

Again  and  again  Job  points  out  the  wrongs  of  human 
society,  and  even  charges  God  with  being  responsible. 

"  Wherefore  do  the  wicked  live. 
Become  old,  wax  mighty  in  power?  "     Qob  21 :  7.) 

"  The  earth  is  given  into  the  hand  of  the  wicked. 
He  covereth  the  faces  of  the  judges  thereof. 
If  it  be  not  He  [that  is,  God]  then  who  is  it  ?"     Qob  9 :  24.) 


198  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

At  the  same  time,  along  with  these  feelings  of  resent- 
ment at  a  God  who  seemed  so  unjust,  are  mingled  ex- 
pressions of  longing  for  reconciliation  with  the  divine 
Companion.  Sometimes  he  dreams  of  a  vindication  in 
the  eyes  of  future  generations,  or  better  still  in  an  in- 
dividual life  after  death.  From  beginning  to  end  his 
chief  cry  is  for  a  hearing  before  God,  that  he  might 
defend  himself  and  prove  his  innocence.  In  a  thrilling 
climax  he  declares  that  the  very  charges  brought  against 
him  will  prove  a  wreath  of  honor. 

"  O  that  I  had  one  to  hear  me. 
Lo,  here  is  my  signature,  let  the  Almighty  answer  me! 
Oh  that  I  had  the  indictment,  which  mine  enemy  hath 

written. 
Surely  I  would  carry  it  upon  my  shoulder; 
I  wotdd  bind  it  to  me  as  a  crown. 
I  would  account  for  all  my  steps. 
As  a  prince  would  I  go  near  unto  him."     (Job  31 : 35-37.) 

This  great  challenge  is  represented  as  bringing  its 
response:  "Then  Jehovah  answered  Job  out  of  the 
whirlwind."  In  the  speech  which  is  placed  in  the  mouth 
of  Jehovah  the  greatness  and  mystery  of  the  universe 
are  emphasized  with  unparalleled  beauty  and  literary 
grandeur.  (See  Job  38-40.)  In  this  way  Job  is  invited 
to  raise  his  eyes  to  the  infinite  horizon  of  God's  universe 
and  in  its  exhaustless  mystery  to  find  room  for  faith.  God 
is  not  tied  down  in  His  actions  to  the  fine-spun  theories 
of  the  three  friends.  He  may  not  be  angry  even  though 
He  does  send  pain.  On  the  other  hand,  those  who  charge 
God  with  injustice  in  His  government  of  the  world  are 
hasty  and  presumptuous.  Good  men  do  suffer  and  wicked 
men  do  prosper ;  in  this  Job  was  right ;  but  God  may  have 
reasons  for  permitting  these  things  which  we  cannot 
fathom. 

The  author  closed  his  book  with  the  last  part  of  the 
old  prose  story  in  which  Jehovah  condemns  the  three 
friends,  and  praises  Job.     The  latter  had  at  least  been 


A  MAN  WHO  THOUGHT  FOR  HIMSELF     199 

honest,  even  though  presumptuous,  and  he  thus  found 
the  vindication  for  which  he  longed. 

Later  Additions  to  the  Book  of  Job 

A  book  so  bold  and  radical  as  this  one  naturally  made 
a  sensation  wherever  it  was  circulated.  Many  of  the 
utterances  which  the  author  had  placed  in  the  mouth 
of  Job  were  regarded  as  blasphemous.  No  doubt  the 
neighbors  looked  with  even  greater  horror  than  ever 
upon  him.  "  We  were  sure  he  was  a  wicked  man;  now 
he  has  proved  it,"  they  said.  Children  went  around 
by  another  street  to  avoid  passing  his  house.  In  the 
market  place,  men  pointed  after  tam  when  he  passed, 
and  said,  *'  There  goes  the  infidel." 

There  is  reason  to  believe  that  some  parts  of  the  book, 
which  were  most  shocking  to  orthodox  readers,  were 
cut  out  of  the  copies  from  which  our  present  version  is 
descended.  We  would  give  much  to  have  them  restored 
to  us.  Additions  were  also  made.  Our  present  book  of  Job 
seems  indeed  like  a  kind  of  symposium,  in  which  a  number 
of  different  voices  are  heard.  It  is  generally  agreed 
that  chapters  32-37,  in  which  a  new  character,  Elihu, 
is  introduced,  were  added  by  a  later  writer,  who  was 
offended  by  some  of  the  charges  made  by  Job  against 
the  Almighty,  but  who  did  not  seem  to  understand 
the  original  author's  meaning. 

We,  today,  are  perhaps  better  able  to  understand  and 
appreciate  the  meaning  of  these  great  dialogues  than 
any  previous  generation.  The  w^orld  is  just  awakening 
to  the  value  of  independent  thought  on  the  part  of  each 
individual.  It  is  just  learning  that  the  first  duty  of 
every  man  is  to  be  honest  with  himself.  "  Ye  are  forgers 
of  lies,"  says  Job,  in  disgust  with  the  arguments  of  his 
friends. 

"  Will  ye  speak  what  is  wrong  for  God, 
And  utter  falsehoods  for  his  sake.'* 
Will  ye  be  partisans  for  God, 


200  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Be  special  pleaders  in  his  cause? 

Wotdd  it  be  well,  should  he  search  you  out? 

Could  ye  deceive  him,  as  you  would  deceive  a  man? 

Verily  he  would  punish  you, 

If  dishonestly  you  favored  him."     (Job  13:  4-10.) 

Such  a  book  as  this  is  just  what  we  need  today,  to  help 
us  to  stand  on  our  own  feet,  to  see  with  our  eyes,  to 
think  our  own  thoughts  and  to  follow  the  truth,  wherever 
it  may  lead. 


CHAPTER  XXXIII 
A  PESSIMIST  AND  AN  OPTIMIST 

ECCLESIASTES    AND    EcCLESIASTICUS 

Ecclesiastes  and  Ecclesiasticus :  what  a  curious  pair 
of  book  titles!  So  closely  similar  that  one  needs  to 
look  twice  to  distinguish  them.  These  two  books  are 
also  closely  related  in  other  ways  than  the  similarity 
of  names.  They  were  written  about  the  same  time 
(200  B.C.),  and  probably  in  the  same  city,  Jerusalem, 
and  quite  possibly  by  men  who  were  personally  ac- 
quainted. Yet  in  general  character  no  two  books  could 
be  more  different.  One  of  them,  Ecclesiastes,  was 
written  by  a  pessimist.  The  other,  Ecclesiasticus,  was 
written  by  an  optimist. 

The  Author  of  Ecclesiastes 

The  pessimist  was  probably  a  priest  in  the  temple 
at  Jerusalem  who  wrote  in  his  old  age.  He  is  frequently 
referred  to  as  Koheleth,  although  this  was  his  assimied 
title  rather  than  his  proper  name.  The  word  Ecclesiastes 
is  the  Greek  translation  and  it  is  translated  "  the 
Preacher  "  in  our  English  Bible.  He  was  a  professional 
"wise  man."  We  know  nothing  of  his  life  except  what 
we  can  infer  from  his  writings,  and  from  the  general 
conditions  of  his  times. 

In  those  days,  Palestine  was  ruled  from  Egypt  by 
the  Greek  dynasty  known  as  the  Ptolemies.  Most  of 
these  monarchs  as  individuals  were  good-natured  and 
well-meaning  enough,  but  weak.  Their  Jewish  subjects 
had  much  of  which  to  complain.  The  subordinate 
officials  who  were  placed  over  the  Jews  were  a  set  of 

201 


202  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

petty  grafters.  "  The  man  higher  up,"  is  not  a  modem 
invention.  Both  the  man,  and  name  for  him,  existed 
in  Koheleth's  time.  "  If  thou  seest  the  oppression  of 
the  poor,  and  the  violent  taking  away  of  justice  and 
righteousness  in  a  province,  do  not  wonder  at  it,  for  one 
high  officer  is  watching  above  another,  and  there  are  those 
who  are  still  higher  up."  (Eccl.  5:  8.)  This  means  that 
the  minor  officials  were  practically  compelled  by  their 
superiors  to  extort  money  from  their  subjects.  The 
larger  share  of  this  money  was  paid  over^to  these  higher 
officers,  and  to  those  *'  still  higher  up." 

Under  such  a  government  as  this  the  Jews  naturally  did 
not  find  life  very  inspiring.  Its  prizes  seemed  to  go,  not  to 
the  most  worthy,  but  to  those  with  a  "  pull  " ;  while  for  the 
lack  of  a  *'  pull  "  one  was  constantly  in  danger  of  suffering 
some  cruel  injustice.  Many  indeed  foimd  inspiration 
for  worthy  effort,  in  the  hope  that  Israel  would  some 
day  be  restored  to  her  former  glory  as  an  independent 
nation.  But  as  the  years  and  centuries  dragged  by, 
this  hope  grew  more  and  more  shadowy.  Under  these 
conditions,  men  had  few  incentives  to  progress,  and  life 
lost  its  interest  and  zest. 

Now  our  "  preacher  "  Koheleth  seems  to  have  been 
personally  very  prosperous.  He  probably  had  plenty  of 
money ;  he  had  been  given  the  advantages  of  an  education, 
and  occupied  a  high  social  position;  and  yet,  he  was  a 
pessimist.  He  asked  himself  the  question,  "  Is  life  worth 
living?  "  —  and  answered,  "  No.  It  is  mere  emptiness." 
'*  Vanity  of  vanities,  vanity  of  vanities,  all  is  vanity." 
(Eccl.  1:2.)  He  could  not  see  that  the  bitter  experiences 
of  life  led  to  any  good.  Men  can  endure  bravely  almost 
any  amount  of  suffering,  if  only  it  leads  to  something 
worth  while,  but  to  him  existence  seemed  to  be  a  tire- 
some treadmill,  going  round  and  round,  without  accom- 
plishing anything.  "  The  wind  goeth  toward  the  south, 
and  tumeth  about  unto  the  north.  ^  All  the  rivers  run 
into  the  sea,  yet  the  sea  is  not  full.  All  things  are  full 
of  weariness ;  man  cannot  utter  it.     The  eye  is  not  satisfied 


A  PESSIMIST  AND  AN   OPTIMIST        203 

with  seeing,  nor  the  ear  filled  with  hearing.  That  which 
has  been  is  that  which  will  be;  and  that  which  has  been 
done  is  that  which  shall  be  done;  and  there  is  no  new 
thing  under  the  sun."     (Eccl.  1:6-9.) 

There  were  indeed  some  in  those  days  who  were  be- 
ginning to  look  forward  to  a  life  after  death,  thinking 
that  the  wrongs  of  this  life  might  be  set  right  in  the 
next.  (See  Chapter  XXVII.)  But  Koheleth  could 
only  say,  What  proof  have  you  that  man  does  not  die 
as  the  beasts  die  ?     (Eccl.  3 :  11-21.) 

Koheleth's  Book  —  Ecclesiastes 

The  message  which  Koheleth  seems  to  convey  in  writing 
his  book  is,  enjoy  life  as  best  you  can  from  day  to  day. 
He  assumed  the  point  of  view  of  King  Solomon.  With 
vast  wealth  and  power,  Solomon,  who  was  reputed  to 
be  exceedingly  wise,  surely  must  have  been  able  to  enjoy 
all  that  the  world  had  to  offer  of  pleasure  and  happiness. 
So  Koheleth  speaks  in  the  character  of  Solomon,  and  tells 
how  he  put  all  things  to  the  test;  how  he  surrounded 
himself  with  all  conceivable  pleasures :  vineyards,  gardens 
and  parks;  men-servants  and  maid-servants;  musical 
instruments ;  men-singers  and  women-singers ;  gold,  silver 
and  precious  stones;  and  his  conclusion  is,  that  *'  all 
is  vanity  and  a  striving  after  wind."  (Eccl.  1:14, 
2:11.) 

What  then  is  his  advice  to  his  fellowmen?  Simply 
this,  that  "  there  is  nothing  better  for  a  man,  than  that 
he  should  eat  and  drink  and  make  his  soul  enjoy  good 
in  his  labor."  In  other  words,  do  not  sacrifice  the 
pleasure  of  today  for  some  fancied  goal  to  be  attained 
tomorrow.  Do  not  spend  your  strength  in  toilsome 
striving.  ''  Be  not  righteous  overmuch;  neither  make 
thyself  overwise."  (Eccl.  7:  16.)  On  the  other  hand, 
he  does  not  counsel  extreme  dissipation,  for  that  in 
turn  brings  pain.  **  Be  not  wicked  overmuch;  why 
shouldest  thou  die  before  thy  time?  "     (Eccl.  7:  17.) 

The  kernel  of  his  whole  philosophy  is  in  the  closing 


204  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

section,  where  he  bids  the  young  to  enjoy  themselves 
in  their  youth  and  to  snatch  a  few  fleeting  pleasures 
while  they  may.  For  quickly  the  evil  days  will  draw 
nigh,  and  "  the  years  when  thou  shalt  say  I  have  no 
pleasure  in  them."  A  queer  book  for  a  "  preacher  " 
to  write!  one  might  well  exclaim.  Some  have  declared 
it  entirely  out  of  place  in  the  Bible.  On  behalf  of  Kohe- 
leth,  however,  it  should  be  said  that  he  was  evidently 
sincere;  that  he  himself  was  not  sensual  or  degraded; 
and  that  he  was  saddened  by  the  wrongs  which  he  saw 
inflicted  on  the  helpless  and  the  poor,  among  his  fellow- 
men.  Had  he  lived  in  a  different  age,  he  might  have 
seen  life  differently  and  might  have  written  a  different 
kind  of  a  book. 

The  Author  of  Ecclesiasticus 

The  optimist  who  wrote  not  Ecclesiastes  but  Ecclesias- 
ticus was  another  Jewish  wise  man,  named  Joshua  ben 
Sira.  This  book  is  not  included  in  the  regular  collection 
of  Old  Testament  books,  but  was  preserved  in  a  later 
collection  known  as  the  "  Apocrypha."  You  may  per- 
haps find  these  "  Apocryphal  books  "  in  your  old  family 
Bible  or  in  the  big  pulpit  Bible  of  your  church,  between 
the  Old  and  the  New  Testaments;  and  among  them  you 
will  find  Ecclesiasticus. 

Like  Koheleth,  Joshua  ben  Sira  probably  lived  in 
Jerusalem,  and  he  also  may  have  been  a  priest.  We 
may  reasonably  suppose  that  the  two  men  were  ac- 
quainted. Perhaps  they  were  accustomed  to  discuss 
together  in  the  temple  courts  the  deep  questions  of  life. 
It  is  certain  at  any  rate  that  Ben  Sira  was  well  acquainted 
with  Koheleth's  pessimistic  ideas,  for  he  plainly  alludes 
to  them  in  his  own  writings.  In  case  the  two  men  did 
occasionally  argue  together  the  conversation  might  have 
run  somewhat  as  follows: 

"  Ben  Sira,"  Koheleth  would  say,  ''  you  are  mistaken. 
All  things  are  vanity  and  a  striving  after  wind.  For 
what  hath  a  man  of  all  his  labor,  and  of  the  striving 


A  PESSIMIST  AND  AN   OPTIMIST        205 

of  his  heart,  wherein  he  laboreth  under  the  sun?  For 
all  his  days  are  sorrows,  and  his  task  vexation;  yea, 
even  in  the  night  his  heart  taketh  no  rest."  (Eccl. 
2:22-23.)  Then  ben  Sira  would  reply,  ''My  friend,  I 
know  that 

"  Great  travail  is  created  for  every  man, 
And  a  heavy  yoke  is  upon  the  sons  of  Adam ; 
From  him  that  sitteth  on  a  throne  of  glory 
Even  unto  him  that  is  himibled  in  earth  and  ashes; 
From  him  that  weareth  purple  and  a  crown, 
Even  unto  him  that  is  clothed  with  a  hempen  frock. ' '     (Ecclus. 
40:1-4.) 

"At  the  same  time  there  are  many  other  good  things  which 
make  life  sweet. 

**  The  life  of  one  that  laboreth,  and  is  contented,  shall  be  made 

sweet. 
A  friend  and  a  companion  never  meet  amiss. 
And  a  wife  with  her  husband  is  above  both."    (Ecclus.  40: 18- 

23.) 

"  Seek  not  things  that  are  too  hard  for  thee 
And  search  not  out  things  that  are  above  thy  strength, 
For  the  conceit  of  many  hath  led  them  astray ; 
And  evil  surmising  hath  caused  their  judgment  to  slip." 
(Ecclus.  3:21-24.) 

The  Book  of  Ecclesiasticus 

Ben  Sira's  book  is  probably  a  collection  of  the  best 
of  his  addresses  to  his  pupils.  Its  spirit  is  absolutely 
different  from  that  of  Koheleth,  as  expressed  in  Ec- 
clesiastes.  They  are  both  ''  Wisdom  "  books  but  Ben 
Sira's  book  is  cheerful  and  optimistic  in  its  outlook  on 
life.  In  many  ways  it  is  like  the  book  of  Proverbs, 
being  full  of  pithy,  practical  good  sense.  For  example, 
it  praises  good  health. 

"  Better  is  a  poor  man  who  has  a  sound  and  strong  constitution, 
Than  a  rich  man  who  is  infirm  in  body."     (Ecclus.  29:  14-15.) 

It  also  gives  homely  advice  regarding  table  manners. 


206  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

"  Eat,  as  becometh  a  man,  those  things  which  are  set  before 
thee ; 
And  eat  not  greediJy,  lest  thou  be  hated."     (Ecclus.  31 :  16-28.) 

The  chief  difference  between  Koheleth  and  Ben  Sira 
is  that  the  latter  counsels  an  earnest  and  purposeful 
life.  He  sees  clearly  that  there  are  certain  goals  for 
which  it  is  well  worth  while  to  strive.  One  of  these  is 
true  wisdom: 

'*  My  son,  gather  instruction  from  thy  youth  up; 
And  even  unto  hoar  hairs  thou  shalt  find  wisdom."     (Ecclus. 
6:18-28.) 

Another  is  justice  and  kindness  to  one's  fellowmen : 

**  Be  as  a  father  unto  the  fatherless, 
And  instead  of  a  husband  unto  their  mother. 
So  shalt  thou  be  as  a  son  of  the  Most  High, 
And  he  shall  love  thee  more  than  thy  mother  doth."     (Ecclus. 
4: 10.) 

Above   all   other  satisfactions    in    life   is   the   reverent 
worship  of  God. 

"  Riches  and  strength  will  lift  up  the  heart, 
And  the  fear  of  the  Lord  is  above  both. 
The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  as  a  garden  of  blessing, 
And  covereth  a  man  above  all  glory."     (Ecclus.  40:26-27.) 


CHAPTER  XXXIV 

GREEK-SPEAKING  JEWS  WHO  WERE  TRUE 
TO  THEIR  FAITH 

The  Greek  Old  Testament  and  the 
Wisdom  of  Solomon 

When  Alexander  the  Great  conquered  the  Persian 
Empire,  the  Greeks  and  the  Jews,  the  two  leading  races 
of  the  ancient  world,  came  for  the  first  time  in  close 
contact  with  each  other.  Each  race  had  much  to  be 
proud  of  in  its  history  and  civilization,  but  the  differences 
between  them  were  striking.  The  Greeks  had  beautiful 
works  of  art,  a  beautiful  literature,  and  a  remarkable 
philosophy.  The  Jews  had  little  art,  and  must  have 
seemed  to  the  Greeks  scarcely  civilized.  Yet  in  their 
laws  and  in  the  moral  and  religious  teachings  of  their 
prophets  they  had  something  far  greater  than  all  the 
glories  of  Athens. 

It  w^as  natural  that  two  races  so  intensely  proud  should 
clash.  Among  the  Jews,  some  indeed  became  admirers 
of  the  Greeks  and  the  new  Greek  ways.  They  gave 
their  children  Greek  names,  Jason  instead  of  Joshua, 
and  James  instead  of  Jacob.  Worse  still,  they  were 
sometimes  even  ashamed  of  their  own  people  and  tried 
to  hide  the  fact  that  they  were  Jews.  They  ceased  to 
keep  the  Sabbath,  and  went  no  more  to  the  synagogue. 
Others,  on  the  contrary,  could  see  nothing  but  evil  in 
the  Greeks,  and  hated  their  whole  civilization. 

The  Greek  Translation  of  the  Old  Testament 

Within  a  century  after  the  conquests  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  it  is  probable  that  Greek  was  almost  universally 
spoken  and  tmderstood  in  all  the  countries  around  the 

207 


208  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

eastern  part  of  the  Mediterranean  Sea.  It  became 
the  language  of  commerce,  like  English  in  some  parts  of 
the  world  today.  As  a  result,  the  Jews  who  were  engaged 
in  business  in  these  countries  forgot  within  a  few  genera- 
tions their  own  language  and  spoke  only  Greek.  There 
were  large  colonies  of  Greek-speaking  Jews  in  many 
parts  of  Egypt,  especially  in  the  city  of  Alexandria. 
There  were  Jews  also  in  Antioch,  the  beautiful  city 
which  was  built  by  Antiochus,  one  of  Alexander's  generals. 
There  were  Jews  in  Asia  Minor  and  in  Greece.  In  fact 
the  Jews  were  scattered  throughout  all  these  countries 
which  Alexander's  armies  had  conquered,  and  for  the 
most  part  they  spoke  only  Greek. 

This  made  it  necessary  that  the  books  of  the  Jewish 
religion  should  be  translated  into  Greek,  if  these  Jews 
in  foreign  lands  were  not  to  forget  Jehovah,  the  God 
of  their  fathers.  Therefore,  about  the  year  250  B.C., 
the  five  books  of  the  Law  were  translated  into  Greek, 
by  certain  Jewish  scholars  in  Egypt.  According  to 
tradition  they  were  encouraged  in  this  work  by  Ptolemy, 
the  Greek  ruler  of  Egypt,  who  was  said  to  be  desirous 
of  learning  more  about  the  Jewish  religion.  It  was  said 
that  not  only  the  law  but  also  all  the  other  books  were 
translated  at  the  same  time,  by  seventy-two  men,  six 
elders  from  each  of  the  twelve  tribes  of  Israel,  sent 
down  to  Alexandria  from  Jerusalem  at  the  request  of 
Ptolemy.  For  this  reason  the  Greek  Old  Testament 
has  commonly  been  called  the  Septuagint,  or  the  book 
of  the  Seventy.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  however,  the  work 
was  done  by  different  men,  at  different  times,  extending 
over  a  period  of  at  least  a  hundred  years. 

In  spite  of  the  inevitable  imperfections  of  the  transla- 
tion, this  Greek  Old  Testament  exerted  a  great  influence. 
It  became  for  a  time  the  Bible  of  the  majority  of  the 
Jews.  The  New  Testament  writers  in  quoting  from  the 
Old  Testament,  in  nearly  all  cases,  used  the  Greek 
version.  As  a  result,  we  notice  in  our  EngHsh  Bible, 
certain  differences  between  the  quotations  as  they  appear 


GREEK-SPEAKING  JEWS  209 

in  the  New  Testament  and  the  original  Old  Testament 
form.  Proper  names,  for  example  (in  the  Authorized 
Version),  are  spelled  differently;  Noe,  for  Noah,  and 
Esaias  and  Jeremias,  for  Isaiah  and  Jeremiah.  Through 
this  translation  many  Gentiles  became  interested  in  the 
religion  of  the  one  God,  Jehovah.  Thus,  not  only  were 
the  Jews  in  foreign  lands  kept  loyal  to  the  faith  of  their 
fathers,  but  more  than  that  Judaism  was  transformed 
into  a  missionary  religion.  When  the  first  Christian 
missionaries  began  to  preach  to  Gentiles,  they  found 
many  who  were  already  interested  in  their  message, 
through  reading  this  translation  of  the  Old  Testament. 
It  was,  therefore,  an  important  step  in  the  preparation  of 
the  world  for  Christianity. 

Religious  Truths  among  the  Greeks 

With  the  Greek  language  there  came  to  the  Jews  the 
possibility  of  reading  books  by  Greek  writers.  Many  of 
these  writings  were  masterpieces.  While  some  of  the 
Jews  were  captivated  by  them,  others  felt  nothing  but 
contempt  for  all  things  Greek.  They  would  have  scorned 
as  heathen  the  great  thinkers  of  Athens,  and  even  to 
touch  one  of  their  books  would  have  seemed  to  them  a 
pollution. 

We  may  imagine  one  of  these  men  passing  through  the 
public  square  of  a  Greek  city,  perhaps  Alexandria,  and 
stopping  for  a  few  moments  to  rest  in  the  shade  of  a 
fountain.  A  man  was  speaking  near  by,  and  a  group 
of  listeners  was  gathered  about  him,  just  as  in  Jewish 
cities  a  wise  man  gathered  his  pupils  aroimd  him  in  the 
''  city  gate."  These  people  appeared  to  be  Greeks,  or 
"  heathen,"  as  the  Jew  considered  them.  He  could 
not  help  overhearing  some  of  the  words  of  the  speaker, 
and  they  appealed  to  him  as  reasonable  and  true,  and 
indeed  strangely  like  some  things  in  the  writings  of  the 
prophets  and  wise  men  of  his  own  people.  The  speaker 
proclaimed  the  existence  of  one  God,  and  ridiculed 
idol-worship.     "  There  is  one  God,"  he  said,  **  supreme 


210  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

among  gods  and  men,  resembling  mortals  neither  in 
form  nor  in  mind." 

"  That  man  has  been  reading  our  book  of  Isaiah," 
thought  the  Jew,  "  where  the  prophet  says,  'My  ways  are 
higher  than  your  ways,  and  my  thoughts  than  yotir 
thoughts.*  "  So  he  drew  nearer  to  the  circle,  and  the 
speaker  greeted  him  with  a  friendly  smile.  After  the 
address  was  finished,  the  Jew  lingered.  He  discovered 
that  the  speaker,  though  a  Greek,  was  a  lover  of  wisdom, 
or  a  '*  philosopher."  He  had  never  heard  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah,  nor  of  any  of  the  Jewish  books,  but  was  anxious 
to  know  more  of  them.  So  they  agreed  to  meet  again, 
and  exchange  books.  "  You  bring  me  your  Isaiah," 
said  the  Greek,  ''  and  I  will  give  you  a  copy  of  my  Plato." 
Thus  was  begun  an  acquaintance  which  opened  the  eyes 
of  the  Jew  to  a  number  of  astonishing  facts.  He  found 
that  the  more  intelligent  Greeks  believed  in  one  God, 
as  did  the  Jews.  He  found  many  other  noble  teachings  in 
the  writings  of  such  men  as  Plato,  nor  were  these  teach- 
ings borrowed  from  the  Jews,  for  some  of  these  ideas 
had  seldom  been  thought  of  as  yet,  even  in  Israel.  For 
example,  he  came  upon  the  idea  of  a  life  after  death. 
The  author  of  Job  had  suggested  this  idea,  and  some  of 
the  Psalm-writers  also,  but  others  like  Koheleth  had 
ridiculed  it.  It  was  generally  believed  among  the  Jews 
of  his  day  that  death  ends  all,  or  at  any  rate  all  that  is 
worth  while  in  life.  But  Socrates,  the  greatest  teacher 
among  the  Greeks,  who  was  put  to  death  for  his  loyalty 
to  the  truth,  had  looked  forward  with  eagerness  to  a 
future  life. 

This  thought  made  a  deep  impression  on  the  Jew. 
If  we  are  not  mere  creatures  of  a  moment,  then  that 
explains  our  strange  sense  of  the  infinite  importance  of 
righteousness.  The  humblest  human  life  is  thus  lifted 
to  a  new  glory  and  dignity.  **  God  has  spoken  through 
these  great  men  of  Greece,"  thought  the  Jew.  "  And 
we  Jews  may  learn  from  them.     Clearly  God's  spirit 


GREEK-SPEAKING  JEWS  211 

is  not  confined  to  Israel,  but  speaks  to  the  hearts  of 
men  of  all  nations,  or  to  as  many  as  are  willing  to  listen." 


A  Religious  Book  by  a  Greek-Speaking  Jew 

This  new  message  of  a  future  life  was  much  needed 
just  at  that  time.  The  popular  book  among  the  younger 
Jews  was  Koheleth,  with  his  advice  to  *'  enjoy  life  while 
it  lasts,  for  there  is  nothing  beyond."  These  young 
men  invariably  went  further  than  Koheleth  had  intended, 
and  indulged  in  all  kinds  of  dissolute  vices.  The  whole 
atmosphere  of  a  Greek  city  like  Alexandria  or  Antioch 
seemed  to  encourage  such  a  life.  Most  men  were  seeking 
only  to  get  money,  in  order  to  gratify  their  selfish  desires. 
Many  even  of  the  strict  Jews  w^ere  thoroughly  selfish. 
They  were  careful  to  keep  the  law  of  Moses,  to  be  sure, 
and  prided  themselves  on  being  better  than  the  heathen, 
but  their  lives  were  taken  up  with  mere  money-making. 
Such  a  religion  did  not  command  the  respect  of  the 
younger  men,  who  openly  threw  off  all  restraints.  They 
justified  themselves  in  their  wicked  deeds  by  quoting 
not  only  from  the  Jew,  Koheleth,  but  also  from  certain 
Greek  writers,  who  argued  that  there  is  no  God,  and  that 
all  things  happen  by  chance. 

Now  this  Jew  of  whom  we  are  speaking  felt  that  he 
was  specially  qualified  to  combat  these  errors,  for  he 
was  acquainted  with  the  writings  of  the  Greeks.  <c.  He 
himself  had  learned  from  them  to  believe  in  immortality. 
He,  therefore,  entered  upon  an  heroic  life  as  a  moral 
reformer.  In  the  face  of  taunts  and  persecution  both 
from  bigoted  Jews  who  reproached  him  for  his  friendship 
with  Greeks,  and  from  the  renegade  Jews  who  ridiculed 
all  religion,  he  continued  to  stand  for  the  highest  ideals 
of  justice  and  love.  He  told  his  fellow- Jews  that  the 
greatest  of  the  Greeks  had  by  no  means  approved  of 
selfishness  and  injustice,  but  that  their  teachings  were 
in  harmony  with  the  noblest  teachings  of  the  prophets 
and  wise  men  of  Israel;  that  indeed  they  had  wonderfully 


212  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

supplemented  the  prophets  by  showing  that  ^  this  life 
on  earth  is  but  the  preparation  for  a  life  everlasting. 

Finally,  he  wrote  a  remarkable  book,  in  which  he  set 
down  those  ideas  for  which  he  had  so  long  been  con- 
tending. In  some  respects,  it  was  a  reply  to  the  book 
by  Koheleth,  Ecclesiastes.  Like  Koheleth,  he  wrote 
in  the  name  of  Solomon.  Hence  the  title  of  the  book 
is  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon.  He  made  Solomon  tell  a 
very  different  story,  however,  from  that  in  Ecclesiastes; 
not  that,  **  the  same  event  happeneth  to  the  good  and 
bad,  the  wise  and  the  foolish,"  but  that  a  noble  and 
upright  life  is  immortal;  while  the  wages  of  sin  is  death. 

"  For  God  made  not  death 
Neither  delighteth  he  when  the  living  perish. 
For  righteousness  is  immortal, 

But  unrighteousness  is  the  obtaining  of  death."     (Wis.  Sol. 
1:3-15.) 

This  book,  like  that  by  Ben  Sira,  was  not  finally  in- 
cluded in  the  Old  Testament,  and  is  found  only  among 
the  Apocryphal  books.  It  was  probably  a  part  of  Paul's 
Bible,  however,  and  it  probably  wielded  a  great  influence 
on  Paul  and  other  early  Christian  leaders,  and  thus  in- 
directly it  has  been  one  of  the  great  forces  which  have 
helped  mankind  to  believe  in  the  life  eternal. 


THE   OLD   CODEX  AT  SHECHEM. 
From  a  photograph  by  Dwight  L.  Ehnendorf . 


CHAPTER  XXXV 
A  STORY  OF  MARTYRDOM  AND  TRIUMPH 
Daniel  AND  I  Maccabees 

During  the  period  when  the  Jews  were  ruled  by  the 
Ptolemies  (between  300  and  200  B.C.),  the  conflict 
between  the  Greeks  and  Jews  had  been  for  the  most 
part  in  the  field  of  ideas.  Good  had  come  to  the  Jews 
as  well  as  evil.  Though  some  were  led  into  wrong-doing 
by  the  lower  elements  in  Greek  life,  others  received  new 
and  valuable  ideas  regarding  religious  truth. 

Soon  after  200  B.C.,  however,  Palestine  was  taken  from 
the  Ptolemies  by  the  Greek  rulers  of  Antioch.  In  the 
year  168  B.C.,  a  young  prince  named  Antiochus  Epiphanes 
came  to  the  throne,  and  to  the  Jews  his  reign  brought 
nothing  but  trouble  and  sorrow.  In  the  first  place,  he 
was  a  \  enthusiast  for  Greek  ideas,  including  the  old 
Greek  religion  with  its  worship  of  many  gods;  such  as 
Zeus,  Hermes,  and  Athena;  and  it  irritated  him  that 
the  Jews  alone  of  all  his  subjects  refused  to  offer  sacrifices 
to  Zeus.  In  the  second  place,  he  was  in  constant  need  of 
money,  and  coveted  the  treasures  in  the  Jerusalem 
temple.  When  the  Jews  violently  resisted  his  attempt 
to  enter  and  plunder  the  sacred  place,  he  resolved  to 
crush  out  entirely  this  outlandish  religion,  which  made 
its  devotees  so  stubborn  and  rebellious.  Imagine  the 
horror  of  the  Jews,  when  with  his  soldiers  he  placed 
an  altar  to  Zeus  within  the  temple  of  Jehovah,  and 
sacrificed  swine's  flesh  upon  it.  More  than  that,  he  sent 
companies  of  soldiers  throughout  Judah,  requiring  all 
the  inhabitants  to  sacrifice  to  Zeus,  and  to  eat  s\Adne's 
flesh.  Those  who  refused  were  put  to  death.  It  was  also 
made  a  crime  to  keep  the  Sabbath,  or  to  have  in  one's 

213 


214  THE   STORY   OF   OUR  BIBLE 

possession  a  copy  of  the  Law.  There  followed  six  years 
or  more  of  suffering  and  martyrdom,  very  similar  to 
the  persecutions  inflicted  on  the  early  Christians  in  the 
Roman  Empire.  It  is  perhaps  to  ^ these  Jewish  martyrs, 
slain  by  Antiochus,  that  one  verse  in  the  eleventh  chapter 
of  Hebrews  refers:  '*  They  were  stoned,  they  were  sawn 
a-sunder;  they  went  about  in  sheepskins,  in  goatskins, 
being  destitute,  afflicted,  ill-treated  (of  whom  the  world 
was  not  worthy)  wandering  in  deserts  and  mountains 
and  caves,  and  the  holes  of  the  earth."     (Heb.  11 :  37-38.) 

God's  Help  for  the  Faithful.     The  Book  of  Daniel 

In  the  story  of  the  New  Testament  we  found  that  the 
Christians,  in  their  times  of  persecution,  were  comforted 
by  a  secret  book,  the  book  of  Revelation.  These  Jewish 
martyrs  also  had  their  secret  book.  It  is  preserved  to 
us  as  the  latter  half  of  the  book  of  Daniel. 

It  was  written  in  the  darkest  period  of  the  persecution. 
The  author  had  seen  his  friends  tortured  before  his  eyes 
because  they  would  not  permit  swine's  flesh  to  be  choked 
down  their  throats.  He  had  seen  mothers  struck  down 
with  their  babes  because  they  insisted  on  bringing  them 
up  in  the  Jewish  manner.  Very  likely  the  book  itself 
was  written  in  some  one  of  the  many  caves,  scattered 
through  the  Judean  hills. 

In  the  early  part  of  the  book,  the  author  tells  a  number 
of  old  stories  which  had  been  handed  down,  about  a 
certain  Daniel  and  his  three  friends,  Jewish  captives 
in  Babylon,  in  the  time  of  Nebuchadrezzar  and  his 
successors.  These  men,  we  read,  refused  to  eat  the  food 
which  the  Babylonian  king  set  before  them,  and  refused 
also  to  worship  the  Babylonian  idols.  They  were  thrown 
into  fiery  furnaces  and  dens  of  lions;  but  God  was  with 
them,  and  saved  their  lives;  and  eventually  they  rose 
to  positions  of  honor  in  Babylon  itself.  The  writer's 
aim  in  telling  these  stories  is  plain.  They  were  well 
calculated  to  inspire  the  Jews  of  his  own  time  to  be 


MARTYRDOM  AND   TRIUMPH  215 

true  to  their  religion  in  the  face  of  all  the  terrible  suffer- 
ings which  awaited  them. 

The  latter  half  of  the  book  consists  of  a  series  of  visions, 
in  which  the  course  of  future  history  seems  to  be  revealed, 
to  Daniel  by  angels.  The  vision  in  the  seventh  chapter 
is  typical  of  them  all.  The  author  speaks  of  seeing 
four  beasts  coming  up  out  of  the  sea  one  after  another, 
and  each  devouring  its  predecessor.     (Dan.   7:  1-8.) 

This  vision  may  be  interpreted  as  follows:  The  four 
beasts  represent  four  great  world-empires;  the  lion 
represents  the  Babylonian  empire;  the  bear,  the  Medes; 
the  leopard,  the  Persians;  and  the  fourth,  with  "iron 
teeth,"  represents  the  Greeks  under  Alexander  the  Great. 
The  ten  horns  of  the  fourth  beast  represent  the  successors 
of  Alexander.  The  Httle  horn,  ''  speaking  great  things," 
represents  Antiochus  Epiphanes,  wdth  his  proud  boasts. 
In  this  part  of  the  vision  the  author  has  thus  given  a 
bird's-eye  view  of  history  down  to  his  own  time.  In 
the  remaining  verses,  he  portrays  his  hope  for  the  future. 
"  I  beheld  till  thrones  were  placed,  and  one  that  was 
ancient  of  days  did  sit:  his  raiment  was  white  as  snow, 
and  the  hair  of  his  head  like  pure  wool;  his  throne  was 
fiery  flames,  and  the  wheels  thereof  burning  fire.  The 
judgment  was  set  and  the  books  were  opened.  I  beheld 
even  till  the  beast  was  slain,  and  its  body  destroyed, 
and  it  was  given  to  be  burned  with  fire.  I  saw  in  the 
night-visions,  and,  behold,  there  came  with  the  clouds 
of  heaven  one  like  unto  a  son  of  man,  and  he  came  even 
to  the  ancient  of  days,  and  they  brought  him  near  before 
him.  And  there  was  given  him  dominion,  and  glory, 
and  a  kingdom,  that  all  the  peoples,  nations,  and  lan- 
guages should  serve  him;  his  dominion  is  an  everlasting 
dominion,  which  shall  not  pass  away,  and  his  kingdom 
that  which  shall  not  be  destroyed."  : 

In  other  words,  the  author  believes  that  the  Last 
Judgment  is  close  at  hand.  Antiochus  is  to  be  slain 
by  angels,  and  his  body  given  to  be  burned  with  fire. 
After  the  Judgment,  a  new  kingdom  is  to  be  established, 


216  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

better  than  the  kingdoms  of  the  beasts :  namely  the  king- 
dom of  God.  It  is  to  include  all  nations  and  will  last 
forever. 

The  Revolt  of  the  Maccabeans 

The  author  of  Daniel  hoped  for  deliverance  from  the 
oppressor  through  the  direct  intervention  of  Jehovah. 
His  hopes  were  fulfilled,  but  not  exactly  as  he  had  ex- 
pected. In  this  case,  as  so  often,  God  worked  through 
human  instruments. 

The  agents  of  Antiochus  came  one  day  to  a  town  in 
western  Judah,  called  Modin.  Here  lived  an  old  priest, 
named  Mattathias,  with  five  grown  sons.  At  the  sum- 
mons of  the  Greek  officer  the  people  had  assembled. 
Mattathias  as  the  leading  priest  in  the  village  was  called 
upon  to  officiate  in  a  sacrifice  to  Zeus.  He  refused. 
One  of  his  neighbors,  no  doubt  fearing  a  massacre, 
stepped  up  to  take  his  place.  At  this  the  old  man's 
anger  exploded,  and  he  hewed  the  Jew  to  pieces  in  front 
of  the  altar,  and  also  killed  the  Greek  officer  himself. 
The  bold  deed  was  the  signal  for  a  widespread  revolt 
against  Antiochus  the  tyrant.  For  some  months  a 
kind  of  guerrilla  warfare  was  waged  under  the  leadership 
of  Mattathias.  When  the  old  priest  died,  his  place  was 
taken  by  his  son  Judas,  one  of  the  noblest  as  well  as  the 
most  brilliant  of  all  the  characters  in  the  history  of 
ancient  Israel.  Army  after  army  was  sent  against  the 
little  band  of  warriors  with  Judas,  only  to  be  driven 
back  thoroughly  beaten.  Finally  an  overwhelming  force 
invaded  the  land,  and  in  the  battle  which  followed 
Judas  was  killed.  Fortunately  Antiochus  was  already 
dead,  and  there  were  a  number  of  candidates  seeking 
his  throne.  A  brother  of  Judas,  named  Jonathan,  was 
able  to  play  these  rivals  against  each  other,  throwing 
his  support  first  on  one  side  and  then  on  the  other. 
Thus  Jonathan  was  able  to  gain  by  skillful  diplomacy 
even  more  than  Judas  had  gained  through  the  sword. 
So  finally  it  came  to  pass  that  under  still  another  brother, 


MARTYRDOM   AND   TRIUMPH  217 

Simon,  the  Jews  had  another  opportunity  to  enjoy  their 
old-time  independence  and  freedom,  which  lasted  until 
the  Romans  came.  In  these  brothers,  who  were  called 
the  Maccabees,  the  spirit  and  genius  of  David  lived 
again. 

The  Book  of  Maccabees 

Among  the  Apocryphal  books  are  two  entitled  First 
and  Second  Maccabees.  The  second  of  these  is  not  of 
great  value.  First  Maccabees,  however,  is  a  fine  example 
of  a  Hebrew  historical  narrative,  comparing  favorably 
with  the  books  of  Samuel  and  Kings.  It  was  written  in 
the  Hebrew  language  but  the  original  Hebrew  text  has 
been  lost  and  our  English  version  is  from  the  later  Greek 
translation.  The  author  was  probably  an  eye-witness 
of  many  of  the  events  which  he  relates.  He  wished  his 
fellow- Jews  to  realize  that  God's  hand  was  as  truly  to 
be  seen  in  the  thrilling  triumphs  and  deliverances  through 
which  they  had  just  passed  as  in  those  events  of  their 
nation's  history,  which  were  recorded  in  the  older  books. 
Some  indeed  might  say  that  Judas  and  his  brothers  had 
worked  no  miracles,  such  as  had  taken  place  in  the  days 
of  Moses  and  Elijah.  This  was  true,  nor  did  this  author 
try  to  conceal  it.  He  was  exceedingly  careful  and  ac- 
curate in  his  statements.  He  believed  that  his  story 
was  thrilling  enough,  without  any  exaggerations,  and 
that  the  power  and  goodness  of  God  were  just  as  truly 
revealed  in  the  unselfishness,  modesty  and  faith  of  Judas, 
and  in  the  generous,  loyal  co-operation  of  all  the  brothers 
and  their  helpers,  as  through  any  miracle. 

The  following  passage  is  a  good  example  of  the  spirit 
and  style  of  the  entire  book : 

"  And  he  [that  is,  Seron,  the  commander  of  the  Greek 
army]  came  near  unto  the  pass  of  Bethhoron,  and 
Judas  went  forth  to  meet  him  with  a  small  company. 
But  when  they  saw  the  army  coming  to  meet  them  they 
said  unto  Judas.  What !  —  shall  we  be  able,  few  as  we  are, 
to  fight  against  so  great  and  strong  a  multitude?    And 


218  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

we  for  our  part  are  faint,  having  tasted  no  food  this 
day.  And  Judas  said,  It  is  an  easy  thing  for  many 
to  be  shut  up  in  the  hands  of  a  few;  and  with  heaven 
it  is  all  one,  to  save  by  many  or  by  few.  For  victory 
in  battle  does  not  depend  upon  the  large  size  of  the 
army;  but  strength  is  from  heaven.  Now  when  he  had 
ceased  speaking  he  sprang  suddenly  upon  them,  and 
Seron  and  his  army  were  discomfited  before  him.  And 
the  fear  of  Judas  and  his  brothers,  and  the  dread  of  them, 
began  to  fall  upon  the  nations  round  about  them;  and 
his  name  came  even  unto  the  king;  and  every  na,tion 
told  of  the  battles  of  Judas."     (I  Mace.  3: 16-26.) 

In  recent  times  there  has  been  an  awakening  of  interest 
in  this  great  Jewish  hero,  Judas  Maccabeus,  and  in 
this  superb  history  of  his  victories.  Such  a  book  cer- 
tainly deserves  to  be  well  known.  Possibly  the  time 
will  come  when  it  will  again  be  printed  in  our  ordinary 
copies  of  the  Bible,  so  that  all  may  read  it  who  wish, 
and  gain  from  it  a  fresh  inspiration  to  trust  God  in  the 
ordinary  affairs  of  life. 


CHAPTER  XXXVI 

THE  CANON  OF  THE  OLD  AND  NEW 
TESTAMENTS 
The  Torah 
The  earliest  Bible  of  the  Hebrews,  that  is,  the  earliest 
writings  which  were  regarded  as  divinely  inspired  and 
sacred,  were  the  written  laws  and  legal  decisions  of  the 
priests.  Half-civilized  nations  always  put  their  laws 
under  the  direct  sanction  of  the  gods,  in  order  that  evil- 
doers may  be  restrained  by  fear  of  supernatural  ven- 
geance. When  the  revised  law  book  Deuteronomy  was 
adopted  by  Eang  Josiah  and  his  people,  in  622  B.C.,  it 
was  regarded  with  special  reverence  on  accoimt  of  the 
wonderful  impressiveness  with  which  the  laws  were 
therein  explained  and  enjoined  upon  the  nation.  In 
the  course  of  the  next  two  centuries,  Deuteronomy  was 
combined  with  earlier  laws  and  also  with  an  elaborate 
system  of  later  priestly  regulations.  These  with  the 
tustorical  narratives  leading  up  to  the  time  of  Moses 
were  finally  adopted,  perhaps  not  long  after  Nehemiah's 
time,  as  the  accepted  Torah  or  Law  of  the  nation.  This 
Torah,  which  includes  the  first  five  books  of  the  Old 
Testament,  we  call  the  Pentateuch.  To  this  day  the 
orthodox  Jews  look  upon  the  Torah  as  more  sacred 
than  any  other  part  of  the  Bible. 

The  Prophets 

From  the  first  also,  the  utterances  and  writings 
of  the  prophets  were  regarded  by  their  followers  as 
divinely  inspired.  But  the  prophets  did  not  always 
agree  among  themselves.  For  example,  when  Ahab 
wanted  advice  about  going  to  war  he  found  four  himdred 

219 


220  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

prophets  who  promised  him  success,  while  there  was 
one  prophet,  Micaiah,  who  foretold  disaster,  and  accord- 
ing to  Micaiah,  the  four  hundred  had  been  inspired  by 
a  lying  spirit.  (I  Kings  22:  1-23.)  A  later  prophet 
is  bitter  against  ''  the  prophets  that  make  my  people 
to  err  —  and  whoso  putteth  not  into  their  mouths 
[that  is,  whoever  does  not  give  them  food  or  money] 
they  even  prepare  war  against  him."  (Mic.  3:5.)  All 
the  great  prophets  such  as  Amos,  Hosea,  Isaiah,  and 
Jeremiah  had  to  contend  with  these  opposing  prophets 
whose  utterances  they  denounced.  Who  was  to  decide 
which  of  two  prophets  contradicting  each  other  was  in 
the  right?  Who,  for  example,  was  to  say  whether 
Jeremiah  or  his  opponent  Hananiah,  was  truly  inspired 
of  Jehovah?  (Jer.  28: 1-11.)  On  account  of  these 
frequent  contradictions  the  people  gradually  became 
skeptical  toward  the  claims  of  the  prophets.  It  became 
more  difficult  for  a  new  prophet  to  get  a  hearing,  and 
by  the  beginning  of  the  Greek  period  (333  B.C.)  there 
were  no  more  prophets.  During  that  period,  those 
who  felt  that  God  had  given  them  something  to  say 
generally  came  before  their  fellowmen  not  as  prophets 
but  as  wise  men. 

Everybody  believed,  however,  that  in  former  times 
God  had  spoken  through  prophets;  and  these  earlier 
prophetic  writings,  including  the  historical  narratives 
written  by  prophets,  they  preserved  with  increasing 
reverence.  They  thus  had  two  collections  in  their 
Holy  Scriptures,  namely,  the  Law,  and  the  Prophets.  To 
these  Jesus  refers,  when  he  says,  ''  Think  not  that  I  came 
to  destroy  the  Law  and  the  Prophets."     (Matt.  5:  17.) 

The  Writings 

When  it  was  no  longer  possible  for  a  man  to  get  a 
hearing  as  a  prophet,  that  did  not  mean  that  God  had  ceased 
to  speak  in  the  hearts  of  men,  but  only  that  a  man  with 
a  message  now  had  to  find  a  new  way  to  win  attention 
and  the  hearts  of  the  people.     One  of  these  new  ways, 


THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS       221 

as  we  have  seen,  was  through  **  wisdom  writings." 
Another  was  through  hymns,  or  psalms  Another  was 
through  stories,  such  as  Ruth  and  Jonah.  Thus  there 
was  gradually  gathered  in  the  synagogues  of  Palestine 
and  elsewhere  a  collection  of  later  writings,  which 
were  regarded  as  inspired,  but  not  so  sacred  as  the  Law 
and  the  Prophets.  These  were  kno^vTi  simply  as  ''  the 
Writings."  The  Greek  translators  called  them  the 
Hagiographa,  or  sacred  writings. 

As  to  just  what  books  should  be  included  in  this 
group,  there  was  a  difference  of  opinion.  The  Greek- 
speaking  synagogues  had  a  larger  collection  than  those 
in  Palestine.  For  example,  they  included  the  Wisdom 
of  Solomon.  In  Palestine,  on  the  other  hand,  there 
were  certain  scribes  who  objected  even  to  Esther,  Ec- 
clesiastes  and  the  Song  of  Songs.  About  100  A.D., 
a  coimcil  of  Jewish  rabbis  was  held  in  the  little  town  of 
Jamnia,  on  the  borders  of  Judah,  to  decide  just  what 
books  should  be  included  in  this  third  collection,  or 
in  other  words,  just  what  books  should  be  canonical. 
The  word  "  canon  "  means  literally  a  rule  or  measure. 
Applied  to  the  Bible,  it  means  the  list  of  books  which 
are  accepted  as  inspired.  They  were  guided  in  their 
decisions  by  the  belief  that  all  inspiration  had  ceased 
after  the  time  of  Nehemiah  and  Ezra.  Thus  they 
included  the  book  of  Psalms,  because  they  supposed 
that  it  was  written  by  David.  On  the  same  principle, 
Proverbs,  Ecclesiastes,  and  the  Song  of  Songs  were 
included  because  they  were  supposed  to  have  been 
written  by  Solomon.  The  rejected  books  were  called 
"  genuzim,"  or  hidden  books,  and  the  rabbis  seem  to  have 
proceeded  as  far  as  possible  to  make  them  hidden  in  fact 
as  well  as  in  name  by  destroying  all  the  copies  they 
could  lay  their  hands  on. 

The  Apocrypha  of  the  Old  Testament 

Before  this  council  of  Jamnia  Christianity  had  already 
come  into  existence  and  had  gained  a  strong  foothold 


222  THE   STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

in  the  Roman  Empire.  The  early  Christians  used  the 
Greek  translation  of  the  Old  Testament,  with  its  larger 
collection  of  "  Writings,"  and  of  course  they  were  not 
influenced  by  the  decision  of  the  rabbis.  They  continued 
to  use  these  ''  hidden "  books.  Indeed  they  were 
particularly  fond  of  some  of  them,  such  as  Ben  Sira, 
and  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon.  In  time,  however,  the 
Christians  discovered  the  difference  between  their  Old 
Testament  and  that  of  the  Jews.  At  the  suggestion 
of  the  church  father,  Jerome  (about  400  A.  D.),  the 
extra  books  not  included  in  the  Jewish  Bible  were  put 
in  a  group  by  themselves,  and  called  the  Apocrypha, 
that  is,  "  the  hidden  books."  The  Roman  Catholic 
Church  still  accepts  the  Apocrypha  as  canonical.  Luther 
wished  that  First  Maccabees  were  in  the  canon,  and 
Esther  out  of  it,  but  the  Protestant  churches  have 
almost  entirely  ceased  to  read  the  Apocrypha.  Certain 
of  these  books,  such  as  Tobit  and  Judith,  are  of  little 
value,  but  most  Bible  students  agree  that  First  Mac- 
cabees, Ecclesiasticus,  and  the  Wisdom  of  Solomon, 
seem  on  a  far  higher  level  of  religious  value  than  the 
canonical  books  of  Esther,  Song  of  Songs,  and  Ecclesiastes. 
Surely  if  the  early  Christians  cherished  these  books,  we 
may  well  do  the  same. 

The  New  Testament 

For  many  years  the  early  Christians  had  no  other 
Bible  than  the  Greek  Old  Testament.  After  Paul's 
death  a  collection  of  his  letters  was  made,  and  many 
churches  procured  copies,  but  those  letters  were  not  at 
that  time  regarded  as  "  Scripture."  Not  even  the 
Gospels  of  Mark,  Matthew,  Luke  and  John  were  at 
first  regarded  as  "  Scripture."  They  were  read  in  the 
church  services,  but  only  as  a  sermon  by  Brooks  or 
Beecher  might  be  read  in  one  of  our  modern  churches. 
But  little  by  little,  it  became  clear  that  these  letters 
of  Paul,  and  these  Gospels,  had  a  value  for  Christians 
which  even  the  Old  Testament  books  did  not  possess. 


THE  OLD  AND  NEW  TESTAMENTS       223 

and  that  if  the  Old  Testament  books  were  inspired, 
surely  these  new  books  were  even  more  truly  so.  Thus 
it  came  about  that  these  Christian  writings  were  read 
m  the  churches  as  "  Scripture." 

As  in  the  case  of  the  Old  Testament  "Writings," 
there  was  for  a  long  time  a  difference  of  opinion  as  to 
what  books  should  be  included  in  the  New  Testament. 
Of  the  present  books,  the  inspiration  of  Hebrews,  Second 
Peter,  and  Revelation  was  for  a  time  disputed,  while  on 
the  other  hand,  there  were  a  number  of  books  in  the 
New  Testament  of  some  of  the  early  Christian  churches, 
whose  very  names  are  unfamiliar  to  most  Christians 
today:  for  example,  "The  Teaching  of  the  Twelve 
Apostles,"  "The  Shepherd  of  Hermas,"  and  "The 
Epistle  of  Barnabas."  Gradually,  however,  these  latter 
books  came  to  be  regarded  as  on  a  lower  plane  of  inspira- 
tion than  the  books  which  are  now  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. It  was  believed  that  the  age  of  special  divine 
inspiration  ended  with  the  death  of  the  apostles,  and 
only  those  books  which  w^ere  supposed  to  be  written  by 
the  apostles,  or  under  their  direction,  were  accepted 
as  inspired.  In  the  year  397  A.D.  a  church  council 
was  held  at  Carthage  which  decided  what  books  were 
to  be  included  in  the  New  Testament.  This  list  con- 
tained only  the  twenty-seven  books  in  our  modem  New 
Testament,  and  in  the  same  order.  It  is  interesting  to 
note,  however,  that  even  today  in  the  orthodox  Greek 
church  the  list  of  regular  Bible  lessons  for  public  worship 
contains  no  readings  from  Revelation. 

The  Inspiration  of  the  Bible 

It  is  clear  from  the  foregoing  facts  that  the  present 
list  of  Biblical  books  is  not  the  result  of  an  infallible 
divine  selection,  but  in  part  at  least  is  the  product  of 
fallible  human  judgment.  Many  of  our  present  New 
Testament  books,  including  some  of  the  greatest  of 
them,  were  written  not  by  apostles  but  by  later  Christian 
leaders.     There  is  no  sharp  dividing  line  between  the 


224  THE  STORY  OF   OUR  BIBLE 

Old  Testament  Apocrypha  and  the  so-called  canonical 
books.  It  is  quite  clear  that  the  spirit  of  God  speaks 
through  human  lips  and  pens  in  all  ages.  Yet  just  as 
"  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory,"  so  one 
book  is  of  greater  value  than  another,  as  a  revelation 
of  God.  The  inspiration  of  the  Bible  is  not  a  doctrine 
to  be  proved  by  argument,  but  a  spiritual  fact  to  be 
recognized  by  the  heart.  The  books  in  the  Old  and 
New. Testaments  were  originally  cared  for,  copied,  and 
handed  down  to  subsequent  ages,  because  of  the  tremen- 
dous impression  they  made  on  the  men  of  their  own 
time;  and  the  unique  greatness  of  the  Bible  was  never 
more  imiversally  recognized  than  today. 


CHAPTER  XXXVII 
"  THE  BOOKS  "  IN  A  SECOND  CENTURY  CHURCH 

The  Bible  among  the  Early  Christians 

The  early  Christians  were  eager  Bible  readers.  A 
passage  from  the  Bible  was  read  at  each  of  their  religious 
meetings,  just  as  in  church  services  today.  Correspond- 
ing to  the  large  pulpit  Bible  of  a  modem  church,  they 
had  a  chest  containing  copies  of  the  Old  Testament 
books,  and  in  the  course  of  time,  copies  of  the  New 
Testament  writings  also.  These  at  first  were  in  the 
form  of  written  rolls.  They  were  called  Ta  Biblia, 
that  is,  *'  the  books,"  and  from  this  expression  our 
word  Bible  descended. 

There  had  to  be  ''  books  "  rather  than  one  single 
book,  because  one  roll  could  not  have  contained  the  whole 
of  either  the  Old  Testament  or  of  the  New,  without 
becoming  inconveniently  bulky.  Possibly  three  or  four 
Gospels  could  be  written  on  one  roll,  and  a  number  of 
Paul's  letters  on  another.  Of  the  Old  Testament,  the 
Pentateuch  was  usually  on  a  single  roll,  while  the  other 
writings  were  grouped  in  various  ways.  Luke  tells  us 
that  when  Jesus  went  to  the  synagogue  at  Nazareth, 
the  attendant  handed  him  ''  a  book  of  the  prophet 
Isaiah."  It  would  seem  that  Isaiah  was  usually  written 
on  a  roll  by  itself. 

Sometime  in  the  early  Christian  centuries  the  present 
form  of  book  originated,  with  leaves  and  pages,  and 
gradually  displaced  the  older  form.  This  was  made 
possible  by  a  new  kind  of  writing  material  called  perga- 
mentum  (or  parchment),  from  the  city  of  Pergamos 
where  much  of  it  was  made.  This  new  material  would 
lie  flat  instead  of  curling  up  like  leather,  and  it  had  no 
fibers  to  break  like  papyrus,  and  hence  was  well  suited 

225 


226  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

for  book-leaves  of  the  new  kind.     It  was  made  of  the 
skins  of  animals,  treated  by  a  special  process. 

A  book  of  this  new  kind  was  called  a  codex  (plural 
codices).  It  had  space  for  a  much  larger  amount  of 
written  matter  than  the  old-fashioned  rolls;  and  this 
made  it  possible  to  put  into  a  single  volume  all  the  books 
of  the  New  Testament  and  even  of  the  entire  Bible.  At 
first  there  was  no  universally  accepted  order.  What 
we  call  the  **  General  Epistles  "  were  sometimes  placed 
before  instead  of  after  the  letters  of  Paul. 

The  Latin  Translations  of  the  Bible 

In  the  earliest  Christian  churches,  all  the  books  in 
the  chest  were  in  the  Greek  language,  but  in  the  course 
of  the  first  three  or  four  centuries  of  our  era,  transla- 
tions were  made  into  Latin,  Syriac,  Ethiopic,  Armenian, 
Coptic  and  Gothic.  The  most  important  of  these  was 
the  Latin.  If  we  could  have  visited  a  church  in  some 
city  of  the  western  part  of  the  Roman  empire,  such 
as  Lyons  or  Carthage,  as  early  as  175  A.D.,  we  would 
probably  have  found  Latin  translations  of  some  of 
the  Biblical  books.  By  the  year  250  A. D.,  it  is  probable 
that  all  the  books  in  both  the  Old  and  New  Testaments 
had  been  translated  into  Latin. 

These  early  Latin  translations  were  not  the  work 
of  learned  men,  but  rather  of  persons  with  little  schooling. 
They  did  not  know  Hebrew,  and  not  even  Greek  very  well. 
This  fact  has  left  its  mark  on  one  of  our  common  Bible 
terms.  In  the  Greek  version  of  the  old  Testament,  they 
found  the  word  Psalmos,  which  means  a  song  with  stringed 
instruments,  but  they  did  not  know  what  the  word  meant, 
so  simply  spelled  it  out  in  the  Latin  form  Psalmus, 
from  which  comes  our  word  Psalm.  We  see  that  when 
this  Latin  translation  was  made,  Christianity  was  a 
religion  of  the  common  people.  The  humble  translators 
had  no  desire  to  make  a  show  of  their  learning  or  rhetoric, 
although  they  did  their  work  as  well  as  they  could.  Their 
sole  object  was  to  help  the  lives  of  their  fellowmen. 


IN  A  SECOND  CENTURY  CHURCH        227 

In  the  fourth  century  a  revised  Latin  version  was 
prepared  by  the  Christian  scholar  Jerome,  and  a  very 
notable  piece  of  work  it  was.  Into  it  he  put  all  the 
wealth  of  his  learning,  his  passionate  love  and  veneration 
for  the  Scriptures,  and  his  burning  zeal  to  make  the 
thoughts  of  the  biblical  writers  clear  and  luminous  to 
the  men  of  his  day.  After  he  had  finished  the  New 
Testament,  and  had  begun  work  on  the  Old,  he  realized 
that  he  ought  to  know  Hebrew,  and  thus  be  able  to 
translate  direct  from  the  original  language.  So  he 
went  to  Palestine,  to  a  convent  in  Bethlehem,  engaged 
a  Jewish  rabbi  as  his  teacher,  and  learned  the  language. 
Twelve  years  later  (394)  he  finished  his  Latin  version  of 
the  Old  Testament. 

At  first  the  new  version  was  bitterly  attacked.  People 
were  accustomed  to  the  words  and  phrasing  of  the  earlier 
versions,  and  resented  any  changes.  Jerome  was  ac- 
cused of  tampering  with  the  Word  of  God.  He  replied 
rather  tartly  and  said  that  his  critics  *'  thought  that 
ignorance  was  holiness."  As  a  matter  of  fact,  his  final 
revision  of  the  Psalms  never  did  come  into  general  use. 
Most  Latin  Bibles,  although  following  Jerome's  transla- 
tion everywhere  else,  used  an  older  version  in  the  book 
of  Psalms. 

In  later  centuries,  however,  with  this  exception, 
Jerome's  work  was  universally  adopted.  His  transla- 
tion (called  the  Vulgate)  became  the  standard  Bible 
of  the  church  throughout  the  Middle  Ages  and  was  used 
in  the  great  missionary  campaigns  which  resulted  in  the 
Christianizing  of  the  countries  of  central  and  western 
Europe. 

Bible  Reading  among  the  Early  Christians 

It  is  clear  that  the  Bible  played  a  large  part  in  the 
lives  of  the  early  Christians.  Not  only  was  it  read 
publicly  at  the  weekly  services;  there  was  also  a  great 
amoimt  of  private  reading  by  individual  Christians. 
It  seems  probable  that  nearly  every  Christian  owned 


228  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

a  copy  of  some  or  all  of  the  biblical  books.  This  is 
implied  by  a  sentence  in  a  letter  to  a  young  Christian 
from  the  great  church  leader  Cyprian  (250  A.D.): 
"  Your  life,"  he  says,  "  should  be  one  of  earnest  prayer 
or  reading  [of  the  Bible];  now  you  speaking  to  God, 
now  God  to  you." 

This  shows  that  young  Christians  were  expected  to 
form  the  habit  of  daily  Bible  reading.  '*  In  fact,"  says 
a  modern  scholar,  **  the  Bible  pervaded  the  whole  life 
of  a  Christian.  It  was  the  Bible,  its  history,  its  com- 
mandments, that  he  was  taught  as  a  child  in  his  parents' 
home.  When  the  girls  gathered  in  the  women's  hall 
to  spin,  they  would  talk  and  sing  about  God's  revelations. 
The  prayers,  in  private  as  well  as  in  xhurch,  were  full 
of  echoes  from  the  Bible." 

In  the  time  of  the  terrible  persecution  under  the 
emperor  Diocletian,  there  was  a  young  Christian,  named 
Marinus,  who  was  an  officer  in  the  Roman  army,  and 
stationed  at  Cassarea  in  Palestine.  He  had  performed 
his  duties  faithfully,  and  was  about  to  be  promoted 
to  the  rank  of  captain.  Then  out  of  jealousy,  one  of  liis 
fellow  officers  denounced  him  as  a  Christian.  Sum- 
moned before  his  colonel,  he  was  asked  if  this  was  true,  and 
when  he  confessed  that  it  was,  he  was  given  three  hours' 
time  in  which  to  give  up  his  faith.  So  he  went  to  the  small 
Christian  church,  where  he  found  the  venerable  bishop. 
The  bishop  hearing  his  story  took  the  Bible  in  one  hand, 
and  the  soldier's  sword  in  the  other.  ''  This  is  your 
choice,"  he  said.  And  the  soldier,  without  hesitating, 
grasped  the  Bible,  went  back  and  declared  himself  to 
be,  and  to  remain,  a  Christian.  Instead  of  receiving 
promotion  and  honor,  he  became  a  martyr. 

Stories  like  this  show  us  what  the  Bible  meant  to 
the  early  Christians.  They  found  in  it  something  more 
precious  than  this  earthly  life;  the  good  news  of  a  God 
of  love,  and  of  an  incarnate  Saviour,  and  the  promise 
of  a  life  everlasting. 


CHAPTER  XXXVIII 
MAKING  BIBLES  BY  HAND 
The  Work"  of  the  Scribes  and  Monks 
Suppose  that  you  or  I  had  been  a  member  of  a  Christian 
church  in  the  year  200  A.D.  How  might  we  have  secured 
a  copy  of  the  Bible?  Today  we  can  go  to  a  bookstore 
and  buy  one;  but  it  was  not  so  in  those  days.  There 
were  bookstores,  to  be  sure.  In  every  large  Roman 
city  there  were  stalls  where  one  could  buy  copies  of 
Homer,  or  Plato,  or  Virgil,  laboriously  written  out  by 
slaves.  In  large  cities,  it  is  possible  that  the  books  of 
Moses  or  Isaiah  could  be  thus  obtained.  But  one  wotild 
have  sought  in  vain  at  these  stalls  for  a  copy  of  Luke,  or 
John,  or  the  letters  of  Paul.  Sometimes  reliable  scribes 
could  be  hired;  but  often  copies  of  these  writings  had 
to  be  made  by  each  Christian  for  himself,  or  made  for 
him  by  his  better  educated  friends,  not  for  pay,  but 
for  pure  love  of  the  cause. 

Changes  in  the  Copies 

The  men  who  made  these  written  New  Testament 
books  were  not  thinking  so  much  of  future  generations, 
as  of  the  needs  of  their  own  generation.  Their  chief 
object  was  to  help  their  fellowmen,  then  living,  to  be- 
come better  Christians.  Hence  they  sometimes  intro- 
duced changes  from  the  original  wording  of  the  books 
they  were  copying,  in  order  to  make  them  more  helpful. 
If  a  sentence  did  not  seem  clear,  an  explanatory  clause 
might  be  added. 

In  the  case  of  the  Gospel  narratives  we  may  well  be 
glad  that  the  earliest  Christian  scribes  felt  free  to  make 
additions  to  the  original  text.  Long  after  the  four 
Gospels  were  written,  people  were  still  alive  who  cher- 
ished original  sayings  of  Jesus,  and  true  stories  about 
Him,  which  had  not  found  a  place  in  any  of  the  four 

229 


230  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Gospels,  but  which  had  been  handed  down  by  oral  tradi- 
tion. A  few  of  these  floating  traditions  or  sayings  were 
added  to  the  manuscripts  of  the  Gospels  by  copyists, 
as  late  as  the  second  century  A.D. 

We  find  one  of  these  additions  in  our  Revised  Version, 
in  the  marginal  note  to  Luke  9:55.  In  the  verses  just 
preceding  we  read  how  the  Samaritans  in  a  certain 
village  refused  their  hospitality  to  Jesus  and  His  disciples, 
which  led  James  and  John  in  anger  to  ask  Jesus  to  send 
down  fire  from  heaven  upon  them  and  destroy  them, 
but  "  Jesus  turned  and  rebuked  them."  This  was 
the  end  of  the  story  as  Luke  wrote  it.  But  later,  prob- 
ably in  the  second  century,  a  Christian  who  was  making 
a  copy  of  Luke's  Gospel,  came  to  this  incident  in  the  nar- 
rative, and  said  to  himself  something  like  the  following : 
"  Why  Luke  has  left  out  what  Jesus  said  to  the  disciples. 
Many  a  time  I  have  heard  my  grandfather  tell  this  story, 
and  he  got  it  direct  from  John  himself."  So  this  Christian 
added  on  his  copy  two  sentences  said  to  have  been 
spoken  by  Jesus  to  James  and  John  on  this  occasion: 
"  Ye  know  not  what  manner  of  spirit  ye  are  of;  for  the 
Son  of  Man  came  not  to  destroy  men's  lives  but  to 
save  them."  These  additional  sentences,  in  the  Revised 
Version,  are  found  in  a  marginal  note  below  the  regular 
text,  because  they  were  not  written  by  Luke.  Never- 
theless they  were  probably  spoken  by  Jesus. 

Another  possible  saying  of  Jesus,  which  has  not  even 
found  its  way  into  the  margin  of  our  English  Bible,  is 
found  in  some  Greek  manuscripts  after  Luke  6:4.  "  On 
the  same  day,  seeing  one  working  on  the  Sabbath,  he 
said  to  him,  Man,  if  thou  knowest  what  thou  doest, 
blessed  art  thou;  but  if  thou  knowest  not,  thou  art 
accursed  and  a  transgressor  of  the  law." 

Still  another  of  these  later  additions  is  the  story  of 
the  woman  taken  in  adultery  to  whom  Jesus  said,  "Neither 
do  I  condemn  thee;  go,  and  sin  no  more.",  (John  7:  53 — 
8: 11.)  In  the  Revised  Version  it  is  printed  in  brackets. 
Without  a  doubt  this  is  an  authentic  incident  from  the 


Sri 


MAKING  BIBLES  BY  HAND  231 

life  of  Jesus.  Yet  it  certainly  was  not  an  original  part 
of  the  Gospel  of  John,  nor  of  the  other  three  Gospels. 
In  many  manuscripts  it  stands  after  the  end  of  John, 
as  an  extra  section  all  by  itself.  We  owe  a  great  debt 
of  gratitude  to  the  unknown  scribe  who  had  the  insight 
to  appreciate  the  value  of  this  priceless  story,  and  who 
therefore  rescued  it  from  oblivion. 

Scribal  Errors 

Besides  these  additions,  some  mistakes  were  inevitably 
made  in  the  work  of  copying.  The  human  hand  and  the 
human  eye  are  almost  certain  to  fall  into  errors.  Try 
it  and  see.  Copy  a  page  of  this  book,  and  correct  it, 
then  give  what  you  have  written  to  a  friend  and  ask 
him  to  make  a  copy  of  it,  in  turn,  as  a  part  of  the  experi- 
ment; have  him  make  all  the  corrections  he  wishes, 
comparing  his  work  with  your  copy.  Then  compare 
his  final  draft  with  the  original  page. 

Just  so,  mistakes  crept  into  those  old  written  Bibles. 
In  most  cases  they  were  unconscious  variations  from 
the  original.  Words  were  omitted,  or  wrongly  written. 
Sometimes  the  eye  would  overlook  a  whole  sentence. 
Sometimes  words  similar  in  sound  were  mistaken  for 
each  other.  When  we  consider  that  there  was  almost 
no  punctuation,  and  no  spacing  between  the  words,  we 
may  well  be  surprised  that  there  were  not  more  such 
errors.  It  was  sometimes  impossible  to  be  certain  how 
the  letters  were  to  be  read.  Suppose  we  should  write 
the  English  words  *'  is  now  here"  without  spacing,  Hke 
this:  ISNOWHERE.  This  might  easily  be  read:  ''is 
nowhere."  It  was  especially  difficult  to  copy  the  Hebrew 
script  correctly,  because  certain  of  the  characters  were 
similar  in  form  and  it  was  hard  to  distinguish  between 
them.  The  Hebrew  words  were  also  written  with  almost 
no  vowels,  and  this  added  to  the  difficulty.  It  was  like 
spelling  TABLE  as  TBL,  or  BOAT  as  BT,  which  might 
also  mean  *'  bat,"  or  "  boot,"  or  "  bit." 


232  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

The  Accuracy  of  the  Jewish  Copyists 

In  time,  therefore,  the  necessity  for  greater  care  in 
copying  was  recognized.  On  the  one  hand,  the  bibHcal 
books  were  regarded  with  ever-increasing  reverence, 
while  on  the  other  hand,  as  the  number  of  copies  in- 
creased, the  differences  between  them  grew  more  and 
more  confusing  and  troublesome.  The  Jewish  scribes 
were  remarkably  successful  in  overcoming  this  danger. 
Sometime  in  the  early  centuries  of  the  Christian  era 
they  agreed  among  themselves  to  take  a  certain  copy 
of  the  Old  Testament  as  the  standard,  and  all  others  were 
lost  or  destroyed.  From  this  one  manuscript  all  sub- 
sequent copies  were  made,  and  with  the  most  scrupulous 
care.  The  scribes  who  did  this  work  were  called  Mas- 
soretes.  These  men  counted  the  words  and  even  the 
letters  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  found  the  middle 
word  and  the  middle  letter.  In  this  way,  when  any 
manuscript  was  finished,  they  could  tell  whether  or  not 
there  had  been  the  slightest  change  from  the  original. 
Marks  were  introduced  in  the  margin  calling  attention 
to  any  peculiarity  and  warning  the  copyist  not  to  make 
a  mistake.  But  the  manuscript  which  they  selected  to 
copy  from  was  itself  faulty,  and  some  of  its  mistakes 
were  obvious  to  any  reader.  Even  these,  however, 
they  did  not  venture  to  correct,  but  merely  put  the 
suggested  alteration  in  the  margin.  As  a  result  the 
Hebrew  Bible  has  actually  been  handed  down  through 
the  centuries  since  that  time,  with  practically  no  errors 
or  changes.  In  all  the  written  Hebrew  manuscripts  now 
in  existence,  we  search  in  vain  for  variations.  To  all 
intents  and  purposes  it  is  as  though  they  had  all  been 
struck  off  by  a  printer  from  the  same  plates. 

The  Bibles  Made  by  the  Monks 

As  time  went  on,  the  Christians  also  saw  the  necessity 
for  greater  care  in  copying  the  New  Testament  books. 
Among  the   Christians   this   work  came  to  be   carried 


MAKING  BIBLES  BY  HAND  233 

on  by  monks.  Aside  from  the  Jews  and  the  Arabs, 
the  monasteries  were  the  only  centers  of  learning  in  the 
early  centuries  of  the  Middle  Ages.  There  were  prac- 
tically no  laymen  who  could  read,  and  few  clergymen. 
Books  were  scarce.  To  own  a  book  was  a  distinction. 
There  were  even  some  monasteries  which  did  not  own  a 
complete  copy  of  the  Bible.  Had  it  not  been  for  the 
monks,  the  New  Testament  might  have  been  lost  forever. 
We,  therefore,  owe  them  a  great  debt  of  gratitude. 

Some  of  these  monks  showed  wonderful  skill  as  copyists 
and  loving  devotion  to  their  task.  Many  of  their 
manuscripts,  as  we  examine  them  today,  look  just  like 
printed  books.  We  can  imagine  what  it  must  have 
meant  to  write  each  letter,  one  by  one,  through  hundreds 
of  thousands  of  words,  without  a  single  careless  stroke. 

Some  manuscripts  were  beautifully  illuminated.  The 
initial  letters  were  decorated  and  the  margins  covered 
with  paintings.  One  of  the  most  beautiful  of  those 
now  in  existence  is  a  portion  of  the  translation  into 
Gothic  by  Ulfilas,  now  preserved  in  Upsala,  Sw^eden. 
It  is  written  with  silver  letters  on  a  purple  ground. 

The  monks  also  were  careful  to  be  accurate,  and  made 
few  serious  mistakes,  although  they  never  worked  out 
an  elaborate  system  for  checking  mistakes  as  did  the 
Massoretes,  and  never  attained  such  an  almost  in- 
credible degree  of  perfection.  This  was  partly  because 
they  had  not  the  requisite  learning;  and  partly  because 
Christianity  has  never  been  quite  so  much  a  book-religion 
as  mediasval  Judaism.  The  Church  has  kept  alive 
her  faith  in  the  living  voice  of  the  Spirit,  and  hence  has 
never  been  wholly  dependent  upon  the  written  Word. 
Yet  in  the  loving  care  with  which  they  beautified  their 
Bibles,  the  Christian  monks  showed  no  less  devotion 
than  did  the  Jews  to  this  Book  which  had  been  their 
greatest  inspiration. 


CHAPTER  XXXIX 
THE  BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  ENGLISH  BIBLE 

Translations  by  Bede,  Alfred,  Wyclif  and 
Others 

Not  until  many  centuries  after  the  latest  book  of  the 
Bible  was  written,  was  there  any  such  language  as  Eng- 
lish. When  Christianity  was  brought  into  England 
by  Augustine  about  600  A.D.,  the  language  spoken 
by  the  inhabitants  was  a  Germanic  dialect  called  Anglo- 
Saxon.  After  the  establishment  of  Christianity  in  the 
island,  a  number  of  translations  of  portions  of  the  Bible 
into  Anglo-Saxon  were  made;  and  as  modern  English  is 
descended  in  part  .from  this  language,  we  may  regard 
these  translations  as  forerunners  of  the  English  Bible 
of  later  centuries. 

The  first  attempt  to  provide  a  Bible  for  the  people  of 
England  was  by  a  monk  named  Caedmon,  who  prepared 
a  poetical  paraphrase  of  the  Bible  story  (about  700  A.D.). 
While  this  was  not  strictly  a  translation,  yet  to  a  certain 
extent  it  met  the  need  of  the  people  for  a  Bible  in  their 
native  tongue.  There  was  perhaps  no  one  in  the  country 
at  that  time,  who  was  well  enough  educated  to  make  an 
exact  translation. 

In  the  course  of  the  next  hundred  years  after  Caedmon, 
there  lived  another  monk,  named  Bede,  generally  called 
the  Venerable  Bede.  This  man  was  really  a  great 
scholar  for  those  days.  He  wrote  an  Ecclesiastical 
History  of  England  of  which  copies  are  still  in  existence, 
and  to  which  we  owe  most  of  our  knowledge  of  early 
England.  Before  his  last  illness,  this  man  undertook 
to  translate  the  Gospel  of  John.  His  disciple  Cuthbert 
in  a  letter  to  a  fellow-student  has  left  an  account  of 
how  the  work  was  finished.  ''  On  the  Tuesday  before 
Ascension    Day,    though    suffering     greatly,     he     con- 

234 


r^i.^lelSNl5^n^:T^J^^Y^^^^^^^N 
\N^t:ixh'pixesiNiST^Ne-  q^h   2 

Kl:MMpMlNlliji:VMlliqj^M:^NIHKr    - 
c;kn^.  c;KhKMHiKJUSTHKNM'9K 
Tel^N^NeMnw;xnn^B^tl5.^n»6^ 
N  lNSSTiK^ec5alMl^K^e^^hKv 

fcriKh  UN  Ml  MSI  H  IKT^NS .  >KnH^  1 

SYtjrKHeMM'isT.   SRHKNM-ev^r 
YMi^i\xMHiKSYBfM^.  Vq>hMic  ; 


GOTHIC   BIBLE:   SILVER   LETTERS   OX 
PURPLE   GROUND. 

From  "  Deutsche  Kulturgeschichte,"  by  O.  Ilcnne  am  Rhyn. 
Grote,  Berlin,  Germany. 


% 


M^' 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  ENGLISH  BIBLE    235 

tinued  to  dictate  cheerfully  to  his  scribes,  saying  now 
and  again,  *  Go  on  quickly,  I  know  not  how  long  I 
shall  hold  out,  and  whether  my  Maker  may  not  soon  take 
me  away.'  On  the  morrow  he  resumed  his  task.  One 
of  the  scholars  said  to  him,  '  Most  dear  master,  there  is 
still  one  chapter  wanting;  do  you  think  it  troublesome 
to  be  asked  any  more  questions?'  But  he  answered, 
'It  is  no  trouble;  take  up  your  pen  and  write  quickly.' 
Soon  afterwards  the  student  said.  It  is  written  now.' 
The  dying  man  answered,  'It  is  well,  you  have  said  the 
truth.  It  is  finished.'  "  And  so,  shortly  afterward, 
"  he  breathed  his  last  and  departed  to  the  heavenly 
kingdom." 

Another  important  translator  was  King  Alfred,  who 
died  about  900  A.D.  As  a  part  of  the  preface  to  his 
code  of  laws,  he  translated  the  Ten  Commandments, 
and  the  greater  part  of  Exodus  21-23.  It  is  also  said 
that  at  the  time  of  his  death  he  was  engaged  on  a  trans- 
lation of  the  book  of  Psalms. 

There  still  exist  manuscripts  of  the  Psalms  and 
the  Gospels  in  Anglo-Saxon,  by  different  translators. 
No  doubt  each  one  of  them  represents  scores,  or  even 
hundreds,  of  similar  copies  which  were  in  circulation 
when  Anglo-Saxon  was  still  a  living  tongue.  We  thus 
see  that  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago  the  Bible  already 
exercised  a  real  and  mighty  influence  in  England. 

The  Birth  of  a  New  Bible  Language 

In  the  year  1066  England  was  conquered  by  William 
of  Normandy  and  his  nobles,  and  the  old  Anglo-Saxon 
population  was  reduced  to  serfdom.  For  the  next 
century  or  more,  there  were  two  languages  spoken  in 
England.  The  rich  and  powerful  nobles  spoke  Norman- 
French,  and  the  peasants  spoke  Anglo-Saxon. 

Two  or  three  centuries  later,  or  about  1300,  there  began 
an  era  of  wonderful  opportunity  for  the  lower  classes  in 
England.  One  cause  for  this  was  a  war  between  England 
and  France.     In  this  war  the  English  foot  soldiers,  who 


236  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

were  recruited  from  the  serfs,  were  armed  with  cross- 
bows, and  proved  themselves  more  than  a  match  for 
the  French  knights  on  horseback.  This  increased  their 
power  and  importance  and  compelled  the  English  nobles 
to  make  common  cause  with  them.  There  was  also 
much  general  discontent  in  England,  during  this  period, 
on  account  of  the  extortionate  demands  of  the  church 
dignitaries  who  at  that  time  were  luxury-loving  and 
corrupt.  Nobles  and  common  people  were  at  one  in 
resisting  this  ecclesiastical  oppression. 

Finally,  in  the  course  of  this  century,  there  was  a 
series  of  dreadful  epidemics  which  swept  away  nearly 
half  the  population.  The  result  was  that  labor  was 
scarce,  and  wages  high.  The  working  classes  developed 
a  higher  standard  of  living,  and  a  larger  degree  of  self- 
respect.  In  this  they  were  bitterly  opposed  by  the 
nobles,  who  tried  in  vain  to  keep  down  wages  by  law. 
The  working  classes  in  turn  went  on  strikes,  just  like 
the  strikes  of  today.  In  the  year  1381  there  was  a 
great  uprising  of  the  peasants,  and  an  army  of  more 
than  a  hundred  thousand,  under  the  leadership  of  a 
certain  Wat  Tyler,  marched  into  London  to  present 
their  demands  to  the  king.  It  was  at  this  time  that 
the  expression  was  coined: 

When  Adam  delved,  and  Eve  span. 
Who  was  then  the  gentleman? 

Unfortunately,  many  acts  of  violence  were  committed 
by  the  peasants,  such  as  the  burning  of  the  archbishop's 
palace  in  London.  This  turned  public  sentiment  against 
them.  Wat  Tyler's  revolution  was  put  down  with  great 
cruelty.  Nevertheless,  the  general  level  of  the  entire 
working  population  had  been  raised  by  these  various 
causes,  and  there  was  less  difference  between  living 
conditions  of  the  lower  and  upper  classes.  Gradually, 
the  nobles  and  the  peasants,  the  rich  and  the  poor, 
were  welded  into  a  single  nation.  The  two  languages, 
Norman-French  and  Anglo-Saxon,  were  gradually  blended 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  ENGLISH  BIBLE    237 

into  a  new  language,  English,  which,  in  its  grace  and 
homely  strength,  is  a  characteristic  product  of  this 
great  movement  toward  equality,  democracy  and  brother- 
hood. Such  a  language  was  particularly  well  adapted 
to  become  a  vehicle  of  the  message  of  the  Bible,  the 
people's  Book. 

A  New  Interest  in  the  Bible 

During  the  years  immediately  after  the  Norman 
conquest  there  was  little  Bible  reading  in  England,  and 
no  further  progress  in  translating  the  Bible.  The  Anglo- 
Saxon  peasants  were  kept  in  ignorance,  and  few  of  them 
could  read  even  those  translations  which  had  already 
been  made  for  them.  As  for  the  nobles,  they  used  the 
Latin  translation  in  so  far  as  they  read  the  Bible  at  all. 
When  a  better  day  began  to  dawn  for  the  common  people, 
however,  we  can  trace  a  new  interest  in  the  Bible,  and 
the  Bible  in  turn,  inspired  a  greater  devotion  to  the 
people's  cause,  for  it  is  the  great  Magna  Charta  of  democ- 
racy. About  1325  the  Psalms  were  translated  into  the 
English  of  that  day  by  a  certain  Richard  Rolle.  But 
the  great  Bible  translator  of   the  age  was  John  Wyclif. 

John  Wyclif  as  a  Religious  Leader 

Wyclif  was  bom  about  1320  in  the  north  of  England. 
He  became  a  minister,  and  a  professor  in  the  University 
of  Oxford.  He  first  rose  to  prominence  in  a  contest 
over  the  question  of  ecclesiastical  taxes  between  the 
English  parliament  and  the  Pope,  who  had  presented 
a  bill  for  back  taxes  for  thirty-three  years.  Parliament 
refused  to  pay,  and  Wyclif  wrote  a  tract  defending  its 
action. 

In  this  contest  Wyclif's  eyes  were  opened  to  the  im- 
moral practices  and  superstitious  teachings  of  the  Roman 
Catholic  Church  of  that  day,  and  he  began  to  expose 
them.  When  summoned  to  a  trial  for  heresy,  however, 
he  had  the  protection  of  the  great  nobles  whom  he  had 


238  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

encouraged  to  resist  the  demands  for  money  made  by 
the  Roman  CathoHc  Church. 

But  WycHf  was  not  only  opposed  to  extortionate 
church  officials;  he  hated  extortion  and  oppression  of 
every  kind.  He  saw  that,  although  many  of  the  church 
leaders  were  corrupt  and  selfish,  yet  the  Bible  really  taught 
justice  and  love  and  brotherhood.  So  he  boldly  cham- 
pioned the  peasants  in  their  struggle  for  higher  wages. 
More  than  that,  he  organized  a  band  of  disciples,  who 
were  called  "  Poor  Priests,"  who  went  about  from  village 
to  village,  teaching  these  doctrines  wherever  the  people 
could  be  gathered  together  to  listen.  These  men  brought 
a  new  moral  impulse  into  the  life  of  the  English  people, 
which  became  the  foundation  for  England's  future 
greatness.  In  order  to  help  them  in  their  work,  Wyclif, 
in  his  old  age,  decided  to  translate  the  entire  Bible  into 
English. 

Wyclif's  Translation  of  the  Bible 

Although  Wyclif  was  the  leader  in  this  work  of  trans- 
lation he  did  not  do  all  of  it  himself.  Nearly  all  of  the 
Old  Testament  was  translated  by  one  of  his  friends, 
Nicholas  of  Hereford.  The  original  manuscript  of  this 
scholar  is  still  in  existence,  and  it  is  interesting  to  note 
that  it  breaks  off  abruptly  in  the  middle  of  a  verse  in 
one  of  the  apocryphal  books  (Baruch).  It  is  almost 
certain  that  just  when  Nicholas  was  writing  this  verse, 
officers  came  to  arrest  him  on  charges  of  heresy.  After 
Wyclif's  death  (1384)  the  entire  work  was  carefully 
and  skillfully  revised  by  another  friend  and  comrade, 
John  Purvey. 

The  translation  as  a  whole  was  a  remarkable  achieve- 
ment. It  was  based  on  the  Latin  version,  not  on  the 
original  Greek  and  Hebrew,  for  in  those  days  these  two 
languages  were  practically  unknown  in  Europe.  Wyclif 
and  his  friends  were  good  Latin  scholars,  however,  and 
they  made  a  faithful  translation  from  the  Latin  version. 
The  English  wording  is  clear  and  forcible.     Although 


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WYCLIF'S   BIBLE. 

From  "  Fac-slmiles  of  Biblical  :Maniiscripts." 

By  permission  of  the  Trustees  of  the 

British  Museum. 


BEGINNINGS  OF  OUR  ENGLISH  BIBLE    239 

five  centuries  have  passed  away,  much  of  it  can  still 
be  read  and  understood.  Its  quaint  phrases  often  bring 
home  the  meaning  of  a  Bible  sentence  with  fresh  and 
appealing  force.  As  an  example  we  may  quote  the 
opening  verses  of  the  Beatitudes  in  this  version. 

"  And  Jhesus,  seyinge  the  puple,  wente  up  in  to  an 
hil,  and  whanne  he  was  set,  hise  disciples  camen  to  hym. 
And  he  openyde  his  mouth  and  tauzte  hem  and  saide, 
Blessed  ben  pore  men  in  spirit,  for  the  k>mgdom  of 
heuenes  is  heme."  Many  of  the  fine  expressions  in 
Wyclif's  version  were  copied  by  later  translators,  and 
some  of  them  are  embedded  in  the  Authorized  Version, 
for  example,  "  a  well  of  water  springing  up  into  eternal 
life;  compass  sea  and  land;  the  beam  and  the  mote; 
the  deep  things  of  God;  enter  thou  into  the  joy  of  thy 
Lord." 

The  spirit  in  which  this  group  of  men  carried  on  their 
work  is  well  expressed  in  John  Purvey 's  preface  to  his 
revision.  The  translator,  he  says,  *'  hath  need  to  live 
a  clene  life,  and  be  full  devout  in  prayers,  and  have 
not  his  wit  occupied  about  worldly  things,  that  the  Holy 
Spirit,  author  of  wisdom  and  knowledge  and  truth, 
dress  him  in  his  work,  and  suffer  him  not  for  to  err. 
By  this  manner,  with  good  living  and  great  travail  men 
may  come  to  true  and  clear  translating  and  true  imder- 
standing  of  Holy  Writ,  seem  it  never  so  hard  at  the 
beginning.  God  grant  to  us  all,  grace  to  ken  well  and 
keep  well,  and  suffer  joyfully  some  pain  for  it  at  the  last." 

Wyclif's  translation  aroused  a  storm  of  criticism  among 
the  church  leaders  of  that  day.  The  authorities  passed 
a  law  that  no  one  should  read  it  either  in  public  or  in 
private  ''  tmder  pain  of  excommunication."  Wyclif 
himself  wrote,  before  his  death:  *'  Many  think  it  amiss 
that  men  should  know  Christ's  life,  for  then  priests 
should  be  shamed  of  their  lives,  and  specially  these  high 
priests,  for  they  contradict  Christ  both  in  word  and 
deed."  Both  Hereford  and  Purvey  were  imprisoned  and 
Hereford  was  tortured.     Wyclif  was  too  influential  to 


240  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

be  molested,  but  some  forty  years  after  his  death,  his 
bones  were  dug  up  and  burned,  and  the  ashes  thrown 
into  the  brook  called  the  Swift,  which  flows  by  his  home 
town  Lutterworth. 

Despite  all  this  opposition,  however,  the  new  English 
Bible  exerted  a  great  influence.  Copies  could  only  be 
made  by  hand,  as  the  printing-press  had  not  yet  been 
invented.  There  are  still  in  existence  one  hundred 
and  seventy  partial  or  complete  copies  of  this  translation. 
People  used  to  gather  at  night  to  hear  it  read.  One 
historian  tells  us  that  as  much  as  a  load  of  hay  was  at 
times  given  for  a  few  chapters  of  an  epistle  of  Paul. 
Through  the  reading  of  the  Bible  thus  made  possible 
the  people  were  prepared  for  the  great  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion, a  century  and  a  half  later. 


CHAPTER  XL 

A  NEW  ERA  OF  TRIUMPH  FOR  THE  BIBLE 
The  Printing-Press  and  the  Reformation 

About  fifty  years  after  Wyclif's  death  there  Hved  in 
Strassburg,  in  Germany,  a  silversmith,  named  Johann 
Gutenberg,  who  takes  high  rank  among  the  benefactors 
of  mankind.     He  it  was  who  invented  the  art  of  printing. 

Even  before  Gutenberg's  time  men  had  been  feeling 
their  way  toward  this  invention.  Small  picture  books 
had  been  made,  called  block-books,  each  page  having  been 
printed  from  a  single  block  of  wood.  Among  these 
"  block-books  "  were  some  called  **  Bibles  of  the  poor," 
with  a  Scripture  text  on  each  page,  and  a  picture  to 
illustrate  it.  Gutenberg  improved  on  this  device  by 
introducing  small  movable  engravings  of  single  letters, 
called  types.  In  making  them,  he  experimented  first 
with  wood ;  but  these  were  soon  broken  or  split,  and  metal 
ones  were  substituted.  The  first  printing-press  in  the 
world  was  set  up  by  Gutenberg,  in  his  native  city  May- 
ence,  about  the  year  1450. 

It  is  an  eloquent  testimony  to  the  general  interest 
in  the  Bible  in  those  days  that  the  first  book  of  any 
length  which  the  inventor  undertook  to  publish  was  a 
Latin  Bible.  The  work  was  begim  in  1453  and  was 
finished  four  years  later.  About  one  himdred  copies 
were  printed  of  which  thirty-one  are  still  known  to  be 
in  existence.  It  was  a  very  beautiful  and  costly  piece 
of  work. 

The  new  invention  aroused  great  interest.  Presses 
were  quickly  set  up  in  many  cities,  not  only  in  Germany, 
but  in  other  countries.  Venice  became  famous  for  its 
printers.  Before  1500,  or  within  fifty  years  after  Guten- 
berg's first  Bible  was  published,  ninety-two  other  edi- 
tions of  the  Bible  were  printed,  including  both  the  Latin 
and  other  versions. 

241 


242  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

Linen  Paper 

The  earliest  printed  books  were  very  expensive.  Only- 
princes  or  rich  merchants  could  afford  to  buy  them. 
The  chief  expense  was  the  material  out  of  which  the 
books  were  made.  But  there  was  a  remedy  for  this 
difficulty,  for  some  centuries  earlier  the  Arabs  had 
learned  from  the  Chinese  the  art  of  making  paper  by 
soaking  linen  rags  in  water  and  acid.  When  Gutenberg 
set  up  his  press,  the  only  paper  available  was  a  kind 
of  imitation  parchment,  very  costly.  Part  of  his  first 
edition  of  the  Bible  was  printed  on  paper,  and  the  rest 
on  parchment,  and  the  paper  copies  were  quite  as  beauti- 
ful as  the  others.  But  with  printing-presses  now  spring- 
ing up  in  every  important  city,  there  was  a  demand  for 
less  expensive  paper,  which  was  quickly  met,  and  within 
a  few  decades  printed  books  could  be  sold  almost  as 
cheaply  as  today. 

The  Influence  of  the  Printing-Press 

With  a  supply  of  inexpensive  paper  at  hand,  there 
was  thus  perfected  a  mighty  engine  for  the  dissemination 
of  knowledge  and  ideas.  The  importance  of  this  new 
factor  in  civilization  was  almost  inconceivably  great. 
It  was  as  though  there  had  been  placed  at  the  disposal 
of  any  man  with  a  message  for  his  f ellowmen  a  megaphone 
which  would  carry  his  voice  to  the  very  ends  of  the 
earth;  and  it  was  not  long  before  the  thinkers  and  leaders 
of  those  days  awoke  to  their  opportunity.  There  was 
a  sudden  outpouring  of  pamphlets  on  various  subjects 
of  public  interest.  For  example,  in  the  year  1518  there 
were  published  150  books  and  pamphlets  in  the  German 
language.  Six  years  later,  in  1524,  there  were  published 
990  German  works  of  various  kinds.  The  special  cause 
for  all  these  new  books  at  just  this  time  was  the  out- 
break of  the  Protestant  Reformation.  No  doubt  in  other 
countries  also,  there  was  a  similar  rapid  increase  at  this 
time  in  the  number  of  printed  publications. 


A  GUTENBERG  PRESS. 


A  NEW  ERA  OF  TRIUMPH  243 

Since  those  days  there  has  been  a  steady  and  at  times 
almost  magical  improvement  in  the  process  of  printing. 
Great  presses  driven  by  steam  or  electricity  have  taken 
the  place  of  the  old  hand-power  machines.  The  total 
volume  of  printed  matter  which  is  now  turned  out  an- 
nually is  beyond  computation.  It  is  the  Bible,  how^ever, 
whose  circulation  has  been  most  increased  by  the  in- 
vention of  printing.  Not  only  was  the  Bible  the  first 
printed  book  but  it  has  always  been  the  most  frequently 
printed  book,  and  remains  today  the  one  "  best  seller." 
The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  alone  issues  a 
million  Bibles  yearly. 

The  Resurrection  of  the  Greek  Testament 

In  pictures  of  the  famous  statue  of  Moses  by  Michel- 
angelo, one  notices  that  the  great  lawgiver  is  represented 
as  having  horns  springing  from  above  his  forehead. 
This  strange  fact  is  due  to  a  mistaken  translation  of  Ex. 
34 :  35,  in  the  Latin  version  by  Jerome.  Instead  of 
**  Moses'  face  shone,"  Jerome  understood  the  Hebrew 
to  mean,  **  Moses'  face  was  homed."  There  were 
many  such  errors  in  the  Latin  version,  both  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  in  the  New,  and  these  errors  were  of  course 
perpetuated  in  translations  made  from  the  Latin,  such 
as  Wyclif's.  Now  Wyclif  and  his  colleagues  knew  well 
enough  that  the  Latin  version  from  which  they  translated 
was  itself  a  translation  from  the  original  languages  in 
which  the  Bible  was  written.  No  doubt  they  would 
have  given  much  for  a  manuscript  of  the  Greek  New 
Testament.  But  there  probably  was  not  a  single  copy 
in  England.  Moreover,  no  one  understood  the  Greek 
language,  nor  was  there  such  a  thing  as  a  Greek  grammar 
or  lexicon,  in  all  western  Europe. 

But  in  this  department  of  human  learning  too,  a  new  era 
was  at  hand.  In  1453,  or  the  very  year  that  Gutenberg 
began  to  set  the  type  for  the  first  printed  edition  of  the 
Latin  Bible,  the  Turks  captured  the  city  of  Constantinople. 
In  this  city  the  knowledge  of  Greek  had  been  cherished 


244  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

through  the  centuries,  although  neglected  in  other  parts  of 
Europe.  With  the  coming  of  the  Turks,  the  learned 
monks  hastily  gathered  up  their  manuscripts,  including 
copies  of  the  New  Testament  in  Greek,  and  fled  to  Italy. 
Here  they  awakened  a  new  interest  in  Greek  literature, 
which  rapidly  spread  to  other  countries.  This  movement 
is  called  "  the  new  learning,"  or  the  Renaissance. 

Among  the  centers  of  the  new  learning  was  Oxford 
University,  in  England.  A  little  group  of  scholars 
gathered  there  who  were  especially  interested  in  the 
Greek  New  Testament.  As  they  read  the  story  of  Jesus 
and  the  letters  of  Paul  in  the  freshness  and  force  of  the 
original  language,  the  meaning  came  home  to  them  like 
a  new  revelation,  which  they  longed  to  impart  to  others. 
One  of  these  men,  a  young  German  named  Erasmus, 
published  in  his  own  country  in  the  year  1516,  a  printed 
edition  of  the  Greek  New  Testament,  with  a  new  and 
more  accurate  Latin  translation  in  parallel  columns. 
Thousands  of  copies  of  this  book  were  quickly  sold, 
and  a  new  interest  in  the  Bible  was  awakened  among 
educated  men.  There  were  indeed  many  who  resented 
any  suggestion  that  the  Latin  version  was  not  perfect. 
Some  in  their  ignorance  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that 
the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages  were  inventions  of 
heretics!  When  an  edition  of  the  Old  Testament  was 
published  with  the  Hebrew  in  one  column,  the  Greek  in 
another  and  the  Latin  in  the  middle,  it  was  said  that  the 
true  version  of  the  Bible  had  been  crucified,  like  our 
Lord,  between  two  thieves. 

In  spite  of  all  opposition  there  was  an  increasing 
niimber  of  men  who  studied  Greek  and  Hebrew,  and 
the  way  was  thus  prepared  for  new  and  more  accurate 
translations  of  the  Bible  into  the  modem  languages  of 
Europe,  including  English. 

The  Protestant  Reformation 

Throughout  the  Middle  Ages,  the  people  of  Europe 
had  been  imder  a  rigid  ecclesiastical  tyranny.     Freedom 


A  NEW  ERA  OF  TRIUMPH  245 

of  religious  opinion  was  unknown.  To  be  a  ''  Wycliflfite  " 
or  any  other  kind  of  a  so-called  heretic  meant  severe 
persecution,  if  not  death.  Not  only  were  men  forbidden 
to  think  for  themselves,  they  were  not  even  allowed 
to  read  the  Bible  for  themselves.  Pope  Innocent  was 
asked  by  a  bishop  what  to  do  with  associations  of  Bible 
readers  in  his  diocese.  He  replied  (1199)  that  of  course 
the  study  of  the  Bible  was  to  be  encouraged  among  the 
clergy  but  that  all  laymen  were  to  be  kept  from  it,  the 
Bible  being  so  profound  in  its  mysteries  that  even  scholars 
sometimes  get  beyond  their  depth  and  are  drowned. 
He  compares  the  Bible  to  the  sacred  moimtain,  Sinai, 
and  quotes  the  words  of  Moses  (Exodus  19:12-13), 
"  Take  heed  to  yourselves  that  ye  go  not  up  into  the 
mount,  or  touch  the  border  of  it.  Whosoever  toucheth 
the  mount  shall  be  stoned  or  shot  through."  Likewise, 
the  Pope  said,  "  If  a  layman  touches  the  Bible  he  is 
guilty  of  sacrilege  and  should  be  stoned  or  shot  through." 

As  time  went  on,  however,  thinking  men  grew  restive 
imder  these  restrictions.  Such  men  also  became  dis- 
gusted with  some  of  the  superstitious  doctrines  which 
were  taught.  But  what  set  the  great  mass  of  the  common 
people  against  the  Roman  Church  was  the  corruption 
and  immorality  of  the  ecclesiastical  officials.  The  priests 
and  prelates,  great  and  small,  seemed  to  care  for  nothing 
but  money.  One  of  the  worst  scandals  was  the  selling 
of  indulgences  for  money,  that  is,  pardons  for  sins  not 
yet  committed,  or  in  other  words,  permission  to  commit 
these  sins.  Discontent  with  such  practices  grew  more 
and  more  widespread  and  intense.  All  that  was  needed 
was  a  leader  around  which  a  reform  movement  could 
crystallize. 

The  leader  appeared  on  the  scene  in  1517,  when  a 
monk  named  Martin  Luther,  a  professor  in  the  little  Uni- 
versity of  Wittenberg,  denounced  the  sale  of  indulgences. 
Much  to  Luther's  own  astonishment,  the  news  of  his 
action  spread  like  wildfire  all  over  Europe.  Within  a 
few  years  nearly  all  the  independent  kingdoms  of  northern 


246  THE  STORY  GF  OUR  BIBLE 

Germany  had  revolted  from  Rome,  and  had  set  up  an 
independent  church  organization.  Other  countries,  in- 
cluding England,  soon  followed  Germany's  example  and 
were  known  as  Protestant  countries. 

One  important  result  of  this  great  religious  revolution 
was  a  gradual  increase  in  personal  religious  liberty. 
Entire  religious  liberty  did  not  come  all  at  once.  Here- 
tics were  still  burned  by  Protestants  as  well  as  by  the 
Catholics;  yet  northern  Germany,  Switzerland,  and 
the  Netherlands,  did  become  a  haven  of  refuge  to  many 
a  fearless  and  outspoken  reformer  from  other  countries  of 
Europe.  In  all  Protestant  countries  and  eventually  in 
Roman  Catholic  lands  also,  permission  was  granted  to 
the  common  people  to  read  translations  of  the  Bible. 
Thus  the  Bible  was  set  free  by  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion, and  itself  became  one  of  the  most  powerful  forces 
working  for  a  higher  degree  of  human  liberty  and  equality. 


CHAPTER  XLI 

THE  BIBLE  FOR  THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE 

Luther's  Translation  of  the  Bible 

The  period  of  the  Reformation  not  only  set  the  common 
people  free  to  read  the  Bible,  but  it  also  aroused  every- 
where a  new  and  intense  interest  in  the  Bible.  The  air 
was  full  of  questions  about  religion,  and  all  thinking 
persons  were  eager  to  find  out  for  themselves  what  the 
Bible  taught  in  regard  to  the  disputed  points.  When 
we  consider  this  general  interest,  and  also  the  revival  of 
Greek  and  Hebrew  scholarship  which  had  already  begun, 
we  are  not  surprised  that  this  period  of  history  was 
remarkable,  among  other  things,  for  its  translations  of 
the  Bible  into  the  various  languages  of  Europe,  as  for 
example,  English,  French,  Italian,  German  and  Swedish. 

Early  Continental  Translations 

Long  before  the  period  of  the  Reformation,  the  Bible  was 
translated  somewhat  imperfectly  into  certain  languages 
of  continental  Europe,  as  well  as  into  English.  Among 
the  leaders  in  this  work  were  those  groups  of  Christians 
known  as  the  Waldenses.  In  the  year  1176  there  was 
living  in  the  city  of  Lyons,  France,  a  rich  merchant 
known  as  Peter  Waldo.  One  Sunday  he  heard  a  minstrel 
in  the  street  singing  a  poem  about  a  certain  Saint  Alexis, 
who  had  given  up  his  property  and  had  thus  found  peace. 
The  song  struck  a  responsive  chord  within  him,  for  he 
himself  was  longing  for  peace  of  heart;  and  he  sought 
out  two  priests  who  agreed  to  translate  the  Gospels  for 
him  into  the  language  of  the  south  of  France.  Reading 
these  Gospels,  he  came  to  the  story  of  the  rich  young 
ruler  to  whom  Jesus  said,  "  Go,  sell  all  that  thou  hast 
and  come  follow  me."     As  he  read,  he  thought  about  the 

247 


248  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

rich  and  powerful  church  officials  of  his  day,  who  lived 
in  luxury,  and  who  were  supposed  to  be  Christ's  repre- 
sentatives. Were  they  Christians  in  any  true  sense  of 
the  word?  It  seemed  to  him  that  the  so-called  Christian 
church  had  almost  wholly  forgotten  the  true  meaning 
of  Christianity,  and  he  determined  that  he  himself 
would  take  Christ's  words  literally.  So  he  distributed 
all  his  property  among  the  poor,  and  henceforth  sup- 
ported himself  by  his  labor  from  day  to  day,  at  the  same 
time  preaching  his  ideas  to  all  who  would  listen.  In  a 
very  short  time,  he  was  joined  by  others  in  this  new  way 
of  life.  They  were  known  as  the  Poor  Men  of  Lyons. 
"  They  are  orderly  and  modest  in  their  manners,"  says 
a  writer  of  that  time  ''and  their  dress  is  neither  expensive 
nor  mean.  They  use  no  oaths,  falsehoods,  or  frauds. 
They  live  on  what  they  can  earn  by  the  labor  of  their 
hands  from  day  to  day.  Even  shoemakers  are  teachers 
among  them.  They  are  contented  with  the  bare  neces- 
sities of  life.  They  are  also  chaste.  They  are  never 
found  hanging  about  wineshops." 

Many  of  these  people  traveled  from  town  to  town, 
and  although  forbidden  by  the  church  authorities, 
gathered  groups  of  hearers  together  and  explained  the 
Scriptures.  The  movement  spread  very  rapidly,  although 
it  was  condemned  as  heretical,  and  was  persecuted. 
Organizations  of  similar  "  poor  men  "  sprang  into  exist- 
ence in  various  parts  of  France,  and  also  in  Italy  and 
Germany.  Everywhere,  they  urged  people  to  read  the 
•  Bible  for  themselves.  To  encourage  such  reading,  they 
translated  the  Gospels  and  other  biblical  books  into  a 
number  of  languages,  including  Bohemian  and  German. 
In  time,  translations  were  made  of  the  entire  Bible. 
Soon  after  the  invention  of  printing,  a  number  of  editions 
of  the  Bible  in  German  were  published.  These  early 
translations  were  very  faulty.  The  translators  were 
like  those  early  Christians  who  first  translated  the  New 
Testament  into  Latin,  not  learned  scholars,  but  humble, 
consecrated  men  with  little  education.     They  did  not 


THE  BIBLE  FOR  THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE     249 

know  Latin  very  well.  For  example,  they  did  not 
recognize  Tertius  as  a  proper  name,  and  translated  it 
"  the  third."  Nor  were  they  skillM  in  expressing  the 
ideas  of  the  Bible  in  their  own  language.  Their  sen- 
tences were  often  awkward,  and  sometimes  did  not  make 
sense.  Such  translations  were  not  easy  to  read.  Never- 
theless they  exerted  an  important  influence,  preparing 
the  way  for  the  Reformation. 

An  Enforced  Vacation  Put  to  Good  Use 

The  first  and  in  some  respects  the  greatest  of  the  Bible 
translations  of  the  Reformation  era,  was  that  by  Luther 
himself  into  the  German  language.  It  is  of  special 
interest  to  us,  as  it  was  one  of  the  forerunners  of  our 
English  Bible.  That  Luther  was  led  to  give  his  attention 
to  this  matter  was  due  in  part  to  a  turn  in  his  fortunes 
which  compelled  him  to  retire  for  a  time  from  his  busy 
life  as  a  teacher  and  a  public  leader.  He  had  been 
summoned  from  his  home  in  Wittenberg  (in  the  year 
1521)  to  appear  before  the  Imperial  Diet  in  the  city  of 
Wurms,  to  answer  the  charge  of  heresy.  All  the  world 
knows  how  this  peasant -bom  monk  stood  up  before  the 
Emperor  and  all  his  princes,  and  refused  to  take  back 
a  single  syllable:  "  Here  I  stand.  God  helping  me  I 
cannot  do  otherwise." 

He  had  been  granted  a  safe-conduct  by  the  Emperor, 
and  so  was  allowed  to  set  out  for  home.  He  was  now  a 
condemned  heretic,  however,  and  his  life  was  in  dire 
peril.  By  the  edict  of  the  Diet,  no  one  was  to  receive 
him  or  feed  him.  Wherever  he  might  be  foimd,  he  was 
to  be  seized  and  handed  over  to  the  Emperor.  Hitherto, 
he  had  been  protected  by  his  friend  the  Elector  Frederick, 
in  whose  province  Wittenberg  was  situated.  Now, 
however,  even  the  good  Elector  dared  not  defy  openly 
the  Imperial  decree.  So  by  a  plan  which  had  been  ex- 
plained to  Luther  beforehand,  the  carriage  in  which  he 
was  traveling  homeward  was  stopped  by  armed  horse- 
men in  a  lonely  forest,  and  Luther  himself  was  taken 


250  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

to  one  of  Frederick's  castles,  the  Wartburg.  Here  he 
remained  safely  hidden  for  nearly  a  year,  only  a  few  of 
his  intimate  friends  knowing  of  his  whereabouts.  It 
was  widely  believed  that  he  had  been  made  away  with 
by  his  enemies. 

Although  he  was  in  the  hands  of  friends  and  surrounded 
by  every  comfort,  this  was  not  an  agreeable  experience 
for  Luther.  He  was  an  exceedingly  active  man,  and 
sitting  around  all  day  with  nothing  to  do  was  not  at  all 
to  his  taste.  Indeed  his  health  suffered  from  the  lack 
of  exercise,  along  with  much  rich  food.  Only  one  oc- 
cupation was  left  to  him,  namely  the  study  of  the  Scrip- 
tures; and  in  the  autumn  of  1521  it  occurred  to  him  that 
a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  into  German  was  greatly 
needed.  Immediately  he  set  about  the  task,  and  with 
such  impetuous  energy  did  he  work,  that  within  three 
months  he  finished  the  New  Testament.  This  was  pub- 
lished in  September,  1522,  after  his  return  to  Wittenberg. 

At  Work  on  the  Old  Testament 

Immediately  after  finishing  the  New  Testament, 
Luther  continued  with  the  Old,  but  this  of  course  even 
with  the  help  of  associates,  required  more  time,  especially 
as  he  was  now  back  in  active  life  again.  In  certain  of 
his  letters  Luther  tells  of  the  difficulties  which  he  and 
his  friends  encountered  in  translating  from  the  Hebrew. 
**  It  has  often  happened,"  he  says  in  one  letter,  *'  that 
we  have  sought  a  fortnight,  or  three  or  four  weeks,  for 
a  single  word." 

And  again  he  writes,  "  I  am  now  at  work  translating 
the  prophets.  Good  Heavens!  How  hard  it  is  to  make 
the  Hebrew  writers  speak  German!  They  withstand  our 
efforts,  not  wishing  to  give  up  their  native  tongue  for  a 
barbarous  idiom,  just  as  a  nightingale  would  not  change 
her  sweet  song  to  imitate  the  cuckoo." 

In  still  another  letter,  he  speaks  of  his  work  on  the 
book  of  Job.  "  We  have  so  much  trouble  translating 
Job,  on  account  of  the  grandeur  of  his  style,  that  he  seems 


THE  BIBLE  FOR  THE  GERMAN  PEOPLE     251 

to  be  much  more  impatient  of  our  efforts  to  turn  him 
into  German,  than  he  was  of  the  consolations  of  his 
friends."  Finally  the  work  was  finished,  and  the  whole 
German  Bible  in  the  new  translation  was  published  in 
1534. 

The  Influence  of  Luther's  Translation 

Within  fifty  years  after  the  first  edition  of  Luther's 
version  of  the  entire  Bible,  more  than  100,000  copies 
were  sold,  Luther  himseH  never  taking  a  penny  for  this 
work.  The  following  remark  by  one  of  Luther's  op- 
ponents, Cochlaeus,  soon  after  the  publication  of  the 
New  Testament,  shows  what  an  enormous  influence 
it  immediately  wielded:  ''  Luther's  New  Testament  was 
multiplied  by  the  printers  in  a  most  wonderful  way,  so 
that  even  shoemakers  and  women,  and  every  and  any 
lay  person  acquainted  with  the  German  type  read  it 
greedily  as  the  fountain  of  all  truth,  and  by  repeatedly 
reading  it  impressed  it  on  their  memory.  By  this  means 
they  acquired  in  a  few  months  so  much  knowledge  that 
they  ventured  to  dispute  not  only  with  Catholic  laymen, 
but  even  with  masters  and  doctors  of  theology  about 
faith  and  the  Gospel." 

Luther  was  well  qualified  for  this  task  of  translation. 
He  had  received  a  thorough  education  at  the  University 
of  Erfurt,  and  after  his  graduation  he  had  gone  on  with 
his  study,  taking  up  both  Hebrew  and  Greek.  Naturally 
he  translated  the  Bible  from  the  original  languages 
instead  of  from  the  Latin  with  its  many  errors. 

Besides  being  accurate,  Luther's  translation  was  a 
fine  example  of  forcible  and  beautiful  German.  He 
did  not  merely  transpose  the  original  words  into  German 
words,  but  he  sought  rather  to  express  the  thought  of 
each  sentence,  as  it  would  naturally  be  expressed  by 
Germans  themselves.  One  secret  of  his  success  in  the 
use  of  the  German  language,  is  revealed  by  his  o-^m  state- 
ment, as  follows:  "You  must  get  your  German,"  he 
declares,  "  not  from  the  Latin,  but  from  the  mother  in 


252  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

the  home,  the  child  in  the  street,  and  the  common  man 
in  the  market-place." 

Luther's  greatest  qualification  as  a  translator  was  his 
inner  sympathy  with  the  biblical  writers,  and  his  deep 
spiritual  understanding  of  the  great  ideas  of  Christianity. 
As  he  himself  says,  "  Translating  is  not  everybody's 
gift.  It  demands  a  genuinely  pious,  true  industrious, 
reverent  heart." 

Luther's  Bible  became  at  once  the  Bible  of  the  German 
people,  and  has  continued  so  to  the  present  day.  Indeed 
the  present  German  language  is  in  part  the  product  of 
Luther's  translation.  Before  his  time  there  were  a  great 
number  of  dialects,  so  that  sometimes  even  persons  from 
districts  only  a  few  miles  apart,  could  scarcely  understand 
one  another.  But  when  the  new  translation  was  scat- 
tered into  every  German  household,  its  language  became 
the  standard,  and  the  dialects  gradually  disappeared. 
To  what  extent  Luther's  Bible  has  inspired  the  spiritual 
greatness  of  the  German  people,  as  revealed  in  the  past 
four  centuries  by  such  men  as  Schiller  and  Goethe,  of 
course  no  one  can  measure. 


CHAPTER  XLII 
THE  FATHER  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE 

The  Work  of  William  Tyndale 
It  has  been  well  said  that  the  father  of  the  EngHsh 
Bible,  as  we  now  have  it,  was  WilHam  Tyndale.  Our 
Authorized  and  Revised  Versions  bear  the  mark  of  his 
genius,  more  than  of  any  other  single  man.  Few  other 
names  in  history  are  so  closely  identified  with  the  Bible. 
His  whole  life-work  was  the  translation  of  the  Bible. 

About  Tyndale 's  early  life  we  know  little.  He  was 
bom  about  1490.  As  a  young  man  he  studied  in  the 
universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge,  and  gained  a  good 
reputation  as  a  scholar.  While  he  was  still  in  Cambridge 
there  fell  into  his  hands  a  copy  of  the  new  Greek  Testa- 
ment by  Erasmus.  This  was  the  turning-point  of  his 
life.  As  he  read  this  volume  the  conviction  was  binned 
deeply  into  his  heart  that  the  religion  of  the  church  of 
those  days  had  fallen  very  far  from  the  religion  of  Jesus 
and  His  apostles.  Soon  afterwards  came  the  news  of 
Luther's  revolt  against  Rome.  Tyndale's  heart  was 
with  Luther,  and  he  longed  to  help  the  cause  of  a  purer 
Christianity  in  his  own  coimtry.  In  the  preface  to  the 
New  Testament  of  Erasmus  he  found  a  suggestion  as  to 
what  he  might  do.  "I  wish,"  said  Erasmus,  "  that 
even  the  weakest  woman  should  read  the  Gospels  — 
should  read  the  Epistles  of  Paul:  and  I  wish  that  they 
were  translated  into  all  languages,  so  that  they  might 
be  read  and  understood  not  only  by  Scots  and  Irishmen, 
but  also  by  Turks  and  Saracens.  I  long  that  the  husband- 
man should  sing  portions  of  them  to  himself  as  he  follows 
the  plow,  that  the  weaver  should  hum  them  to  the  tune 
of  his  shuttle,  that  the  traveler  should  beguile  with  their 
stories  the  tedium  of  his  journey."  It  is  probable  also 
that  Luther's  translation  into  German  stirred  Tyndale 
with  a  desire  to  render  the  same  service  to  his  own  people. 

253 


254  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

At  any  rate,  he  determined  to  translate  the  Bible  into 
English,  and  to  circulate  printed  copies  in  every  palace 
and  cottage  in  England.  There  was  already  in  existence 
the  English  translation  by  Wyclif,  but  the  language  had 
greatly  changed  since  Wyclif 's  time;  and  besides  that, 
the  time  had  come  for  a  new  and  more  accurate  transla- 
tion not  from  the  Latin  but  from  the  original  languages. 
Tyndale  felt  himself  the  man  to  do  the  work.  It  was 
probably  about  this  time  that  there  occurred  his  famous 
dispute  with  a  so-called  "  learned  man  "  in  his  native 
county,  about  the  authority  of  the  Pope;  in  which  he 
said:  **  If  God  spare  my  life,  ere  many  years  I  will  cause 
a  boy  that  driveth  the  plow  to  know  more  of  the  Scripture 
than  thou  dost."  We  shall  see  how  well  he  made  good 
his  promise. 

The  First  Printed  English  New  Testament 

While  still  a  young  man  of  about  thirty,  Tyndale  went 
to  London,  in  the  hope  of  interesting  Bishop  Tunstall 
of  that  city  in  his  undertaking.  He  needed  some  means 
of  support  while  he  worked.  The  Bishop  was  a  friend 
of  Erasmus;  but  he  had  been  greatly  disturbed  by  Luther's 
agitation,  and  he  was  instinctively  hostile  to  any  project 
which  might  stir  up  a  similar  revolt  in  England.  So 
he  told  Tyndale  that  ''  his  house  was  full  ";  that  is,  he 
could  not  pay  him  a  salary.  The  young  scholar  never- 
theless found  friends  in  London,  including  a  certain  Hum- 
phrey Munmouth,  and  other  well-to-do  merchants  who 
backed  him  with  funds.  After  about  six  months  in 
London,  however,  Tyndale  realized  that  if  he  should  ever 
succeed  in  giving  the  Bible  to  the  English  people,  it 
would  only  be  in  the  teeth  of  the  fiercest  opposition  on 
the  part  of  the  authorities.  He  perceived  that  ''not 
only  was  there  no  rowme  in  my  Lord  of  London's  palace 
to  translate  the  New  Testament,  but  also  that  there 
was  no  place  to  do  it  in  all  Englonde."  So  in  1524  he 
went  from  England  to  Germany,  where  he  found  pro- 


THE  FATHER  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE     255 

tection  among  the  Lutherans.  He  perhaps  visited 
Luther  himself  at  Wittenberg.  From  this  time  on  he 
Hved  an  exile's  life,  nor  did  he  ever  again  set  foot  upon 
his  native  soil. 

For  a  time  he  found  a  home  in  Hamburg,  where  he 
finished  the  New  Testament.  The  next  year  he  went 
to  Cologne  and  made  arrangements  with  a  printer  in 
that  city,  named  Peter  Quentel,  for  the  publication  of  his 
manuscript.  When  the  work  was  about  half  finished, 
Luther's  opponent  Cochlaeus  discovered  what  was  going 
on.  He  had  overheard  some  of  the  workmen  from  the 
printing  establishment  boasting  of  the  revolution  which 
would  soon  be  accomplished  in  England  through  a  book 
which  they  were  printing.  Inviting  the  men  to  his 
house  he  plied  them  with  wine,  and  finally  drew  from 
them  the  information  he  wanted.  Fortunately,  before 
the  authorities  could  do  anything  Tyndale  was  warned, 
and  taking  the  unbound  sheets  which  had  already  been 
printed  he  fled  to  Wurms  which  at  that  time  was  one  of 
the  leading  centers  of  the  Reformation.  Here,  where 
six  years  before  Luther  had  defied  both  Pope  and  Em- 
peror, Tyndale  brought  out  two  editions  of  his  English 
New  Testament  (1525).  One  was  a  large  quarto  book, 
the  other  smaller.  About  3000  copies  of  each  were 
printed.  These  were  quickly  smuggled  into  England 
hidden,  it  is  said,  in  bales  of  cloth,  and  many  of  them 
were  at  once  bought  up  and  distributed. 

The  English  authorities  had  been  on  the  lookout  for 
these  books.  Cochlaeus  and  others  had  written  to 
King  Henry  the  Eighth  warning  him  of  the  awiul  danger 
to  which  his  realm  was  exposed,  and  urged  him  **  to 
prevent  the  importation  of  the  pernicious  merchandise." 
When  it  was  discovered  that  a  large  number  of  copies 
had  been  smuggled  in,  a  great  outcry  w^as  made.  Bishop 
Tunstall  preached  against  the  new  translation,  saying 
that  it  contained  no  less  than  3000  errors ;  and  copies  of  it 
were  publicly  burned.  Of  the  two  editions,  or  6000  books 
in  all,  only  one  copy  of  each  remains,  and  these  are  imper- 


256  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

feet,    so   determined   and   fierce   was   the   campaign   of 
destruction  directed  against  them. 

All  this  furious  opposition  however  was  like  an  at- 
tempt to  hold  back  the  tide  or  to  keep  the  sun  from 
rising.  The  futility  of  it  is  shown  by  an  amusing  incident. 
A  certain  London  merchant  named  Packyngton  went 
to  Bishop  Tunstall  and  offered  to  buy  for  him  all  the 
tinsold  copies  of  the  new  translation.  The  Bishop  eagerly 
accepted  the  offer,  and  Packyngton  did  indeed  secure  a 
large  number  of  the  books  and  charged  the  Bishop  a 
good  round  sum  for  them.  This  money  he  immediately 
turned  over  to  Tyndale  to  be  used  for  printing  a  new 
edition.  "  And  so,"  declares  the  old  chronicler  who  tells 
the  story,  "  the  Bishop  had  the  bokes,  Packyngton  had 
the  thankes  and  Tyndale  had  the  money."  Of  course 
new  editions  were  immediately  published.  Within  three 
or  four  years,  as  many  as  fifteen  thousand  copies  were 
sent  to  England. 

At  Work  on  the  Old  Testament 

Immediately  after  finishing  the  New  Testament  Tyn- 
dale set  to  work  to  translate  the  Old  Testament.  In 
1530  he  published  an  English  version  of  the  Pentateuch, 
and  the  following  year  the  book  of  Jonah.  By  this  time, 
however,  the  clouds  of  persecution  were  gathering  deeply 
about  him.  He  had  made  many  enemies  especially 
among  the  church  leaders,  not  only  by  translating  the 
Bible,  but  also  by  his  own  keen  and  forcible  comments 
on  Bible  passages.  Many  of  these  comments  were 
directed  against  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  of  that 
day.  As  examples  of  his  skill  as  a  reform  writer  we 
may  quote  the  following  marginal  notes  from  his  transla- 
tion of  the  Pentateuch. 

Opposite  Ex.  34:20,  which  reads,  "None  shall  come 
before- me  empty,"  Tyndale  wrote,  *'  that  is  a  good  text 
for  the  Pope."  He  meant  that  the  Pope  and  the  other 
church  leaders  were  always  asking  the  people  for  money, 
and  cared  for  nothing  else.     He  makes  the  same  point, 


THE  FATHER  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    257 

in  his  comment  opposite  Ex.  36 :  6,  where  it  reads  that 
the  people  brought  too  many  gifts  for  the  new  tabernacle, 
and  were  told  not  to  bring  anything  more.  "  When," 
asks  Tyndale,  **  will  the  Pope  say,  Hoo  [that  is,  hold, 
or  stop].  When  will  our  spiritualitie  [that  is,  church 
leaders]  say,  Hoo?     Never,  verily,  until  they  have  all." 

Such  thrusts  as  these  made  many  a  selfish  Bishop 
wince.  The  authorities  in  England  left  no  stone  unturned 
to  get  him  back  into  their  power.  In  Germany,  also, 
the  enemies  of  the  Reformation  joined  in  the  himt. 
Attempts  were  made  to  seize  him  at  Wurms.  For  a  time 
he  found  protection  under  another  Lutheran  prince, 
Philip  of  Hesse,  at  Marburg.  Later  we  find  him  at 
Antwerp  in  Belgium.  Thus  he  was  driven  like  a  wild 
beast  from  one  hiding  place  to  another.  To  use  his  own 
words,  he  suffered  ''  poverty,  exile,  bitter  absence  from 
friends,  hunger  and  thirst  and  cold,  great  dangers,  and 
other  hard  and  sharp  fightings."  Finally  in  May,  1535, 
he  was  betrayed  by  one  in  whom  he  had  trusted  and  was 
thrown  into  prison  at  Vilvorde  near  Brussels.  A  touching 
letter  has  been  preserved  which  he  wrote  in  the  prison 
to  the  governor  of  the  city  sometime  during  the  winter 
after  his  arrest.  He  begs  the  governor  to  procure  from 
his  goods  "  a  warmer  cap,  for  I  suffer  extremely  from 
cold  in  the  head,  being  afflicted  with  a  perpetual  catarrh 
which  is  considerably  increased  in  this  cell;  a  warmer 
coat  also,  for  that  w^hich  I  have  is  very  thin ;  also  a  piece 
of  cloth  to  patch  my  leggins.  My  overcoat  is  worn  out. 
My  shirts  are  also  worn  out.  ...  I  wish  also  permission 
to  have  a  lamp  in  the  evening,  for  it  is  wearisome  to  sit 
alone  in  the  dark.  But  above  all  I  entreat  and  beseech 
your  clemency  ...  to  permit  me  to  have  my  Hebrew 
Bible,  Hebrew  grammar,  and  Hebrew  dictionary,  that 
I  may  spend  my  time  with  that  study." 

It  is  probable  that  this  request  for  his  books  was 
granted,  and  let  us  hope  that  warmer  clothes  were  pro- 
vided for  him  also.  At  any  rate,  he  seems  to  have  finished 
while  in  prison  his  translation  of  the  historical  books 


258  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

from  Joshua  through  II  Chronicles.  Before  he  could 
carry  the  Old  Testament  to  completion,  however,  he 
was  tried  and  condemned  as  a  heretic,  and  on  October 
6,  1536,  he  was  put  to  death  by  strangling.  His  last 
words  were,  "  Lord,  open  the  King  of  England's  eyes." 

The  Influence  of  Tyndale's  Version 

Although  Tyndale  himself  thus  died  a  martyr  and  in 
exile,  few  men  have  ever  been  more  gloriously  victorious 
in  life's  battle.  Tyndale's  translation  has  been  the 
dominating  influence  in  all  the  leading  EngHsh  versions 
from  that  day  to  this.  *'  It  is  substantially  the  Bible," 
says  the  historian  Froude,  "  with  which  we  are  all  famihar. 
The  peculiar  genius  —  if  such  a  word  be  permitted  —  the 
mingled  tenderness  and  majesty  —  the  preternatural 
grandeur  —  unequalled,  unapproached  in  the  attempted 
improvements  of  modem  scholars  —  all  are  here  and 
bear  the  impress  of  the  mind  of  one  man  —  William 
Tyndale." 

The  following  selection  from  Tyndale's  translation 
(of  Matthew  6:24-25)  shows  how  little  it  has  been 
changed  in  later  versions : 

*'  No  man  can  serve  two  masters.  For  either  he  shall 
hate  the  one  and  love  the  other,  or  else  he  shall  lean  to 
the  one  and  despise  that  other.  Ye  cannot  serve  God 
and  mammon.  Therefore  I  say  unto  you,  be  not  careful 
for  your  life,  what  ye  shall  eat,  nor  what  ye  shall  drink, 
nor  yet  for  your  body  what  raiment  ye  shall  wear.  Is 
not  the  life  more  worth  than  meat,  and  the  body  more 
of  value  than  raiment?  Behold  the  fowls  of  the  air. 
For  they  sow  not,  neither  reap,  nor  yet  carry  into  the 
bames;  yet  your  heavenly  Father  feedeth  them.  Are 
not  ye  better  than  they?  " 

A  striking  evidence  of  the  value  of  Tyndale's  transla- 
tion is  the  fact  that  the  English  and  American  revisions 
have  in  many  cases  gone  back  to  it  in  preference  to  the 
King  James  Version.  One  example  is  in  the  thirteenth 
chapter  of  First  Corinthians,  where  both  Tyndale  and 


THE  FATHER  OF  THE  ENGLISH  BIBLE    259 

the  Revised  Versions  read  "  love,"  rather  than  "  charity  " 
as  in  the  King  James  Version. 

The  honesty  and  unselfish  humiUty  which  Tyndale 
showed  in  all  his  work  is  well  expressed  in  the  following 
quotation  from  his  letters:  ''  I  call  God  to  record," 
he  writes  to  his  dear  friend  John  Frith,  "  against  the 
day  we  shall  appear  before  our  Lord  Jesus,  to  give  a 
reckoning  of  our  doings,  that  I  never  altered  one  syllable 
of  God's  word  against  my  conscience,  nor  would  this 
day,  if  all  that  is  in  the  earth,  whether  it  be  pleasure,  honor 
or  riches  might  be  given  me." 


CHAPTER  XLIII 
A  MASTERPIECE  OF  ENGLISH  LITERATURE 

The  Origin  of  the  King  James  Version 
About  a  hundred  years  after  Tyndale,  there  was  pub- 
lished an  Enghsh  version  of  the  Bible  which  for  nearly 
three  centuries  was  destined  to  be  in  a  peculiar  way 
"  the  Bible,"  and  the  only  Bible,  of  the  vast  majority 
of  English-speaking  Christians.  This  was  the  King 
James  Version  or  the  so-called  Authorized  Version.  The 
period  between  the  first  appearance  of  Tyndale's  New 
Testament,  and  the  publication  of  the  King  James 
Version  (that  is,  1525  to  1611),  was  marked  by  great 
activity  in  Bible  translation.  Many  different  versions 
appeared.  As  most  of  these  exerted  an  influence  on  the 
translators  of  the  King  James  Version  it  is  of  interest 
to  take  note  of  the  most  important  of  them. 

Coverdale's  Bible  and  its  Successors 

Even  before  Tyndale's  death  conditions  had  begun 
to  be  more  favorable  for  the  publication  of  an  English 
Bible.  The  Reformation  movement  was  making  headway 
all  the  time.  King  Henry,  from  selfish  motives,  had 
broken  with  the  Pope  and  this  led  him  to  favor  the 
reformers.  His  prime  minister,  Thomas  Cromwell,  see- 
ing in  what  direction  the  wind  was  blowing,  had  quietly 
engaged  a  prominent  scholar  named  Miles  Coverdale 
to  prepare  a  translation  of  the  Bible.  This  scholar  was 
a  man  of  about  the  same  age  as  Tyndale.  He  had  been 
a  monk,  but  like  Tyndale  had  gone  over  to  the  Reforma- 
tion movement,  and  had  been  compelled  to  flee  from  Eng- 
land for  safety.  He  had  a  rare  gift  for  musical  English, 
although  he  was  not  a  thorough  student  of  Greek  and 
Hebrew,  like  Tyndale.     He  was  well  aware  of  his  limita- 

260 


A  MASTERPIECE  OF  LITERATURE        261 

tions,  but  there  seemed  no  chance  that  Tyndale's  version 
would  ever  receive  legal  sanction,  for  King  Henry  still 
regarded  Tyndale  as  a  dangerous  heretic.  Moreover 
Tyndale  had  not  yet  been  able  to  publish  a  complete 
Old  Testament  in  English.  So  Coverdale  modestly 
accepted  the  task.  ''It  was  neither  my  labor  nor  my 
desire,"  he  says,  *'to  have  this  work  put  in  my  hand." 
Yet  '*  though  I  could  not  do  so  well  as  I  would,  I  thought 
it  yet  my  duty  to  do  my  best,  and  that  with  a  good  will." 
Thus  there  appeared  in  England  in  1535,  while  Tyndale 
was  in  prison,  the  first  complete  printed  English  Bible, 
namely  Coverdale 's  translation.  In  the  course  of  the 
next  thirty  years,  three  versions  appeared  which  may 
be  classed  together  as  the  Coverdale-Tyndale  group.  They 
were  combinations  of  Tyndale's  work  and  Coverdale's,  with 
minor  changes.  The  first  of  these  (1537)  is  known  as  Mat- 
thew's Bible.  This  was  nothing  else  than  Tyndale's  ver- 
sion of  the  New  Testament,  and  of  the  Old  Testament 
as  far  as  he  had  completed  it,  namely  to  II  Chronicles, 
together  with  Coverdale's  translation  of  the  remainder 
of  the  Old  Testament.  It  was  edited  by  John  Rogers, 
a  close  friend  of  Tyndale,  with  whom  the  latter  had 
left  his  unfinished  manuscript  of  the  Old  Testament. 
It  bore  the  name  of  Thomas  Matthew  on  the  title-page, 
but  this  was  probably  an  assumed  name  adopted  by 
Rogers  himself.  There  was  a  preface  dedicating  the 
book  to  King  Henry,  and  a  Hcense  was  secured  from 
him  permitting  copies  of  it  ''  to  be  bought  and  read 
within  this  realm."  How  great  a  vindication  this  was 
for  Tyndale  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  book  not  only 
contained  all  of  his  translation,  so  far  as  he  had  com- 
pleted it,  but  also  many  of  his  marginal  notes,  expressing 
ideas  to  which  Henry  had  been  hostile. 

It  is  probable  that  the  King  did  not  examine  these 
notes  very  closely  when  he  gave  the  permit  to  sell  it, 
and  possibly  his  Protestant  advisers  were  a  bit  nerv^ous 
on  this  account;  for  the  next  year  the  chancellor  called 
Miles  Coverdale  again  into  service  and  asked  him  to 


262  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

prepare  a  new  edition  without  notes.  Coverdale  took 
as  the  basis  of  the  work,  not  his  translation  of  1535, 
but  Matthew's  Bible,  of  which  only  the  latter  part  of 
the  Old  Testament  was  his  own  work,  while  the  rest 
was  Tyndale's. 

This  second  Tyndale-Coverdale  version  was  known 
as  the  Great  Bible,  because  of  the  large  size  of  the 
volumes.  By  royal  edict,  a  copy  of  this  edition  was 
set  up  in  every  church  throughout  the  Idngdom.  We 
read  that  six  copies  were  set  up  in  convenient  places 
in  St.  Paul's  Church  in  London,  and  so  great  was  the 
enthusiasm  for  reading  them  that  it  was  necessary  to 
admonish  the  people  not  to  come  in  crowds  nor  to  be 
disorderly.  In  spite  of  this,  the  bishop  of  the  cathedral 
complained  that  ''  divers  willful  and  unlearned  persons 
read  the  same  at  the  tirrie  of  divine  service,  yea  in  the 
time  of  the  sermon."  Evidently  many  persons  found 
the  Bible  more  interesting  than  the  sermon.  Thus  at 
last  had  Tyndale  with  Coverdale's  help  brought  the  entire 
Bible  even  to  the  boy  who  followed  the  plow. 

The  Psalms  in  the  Episcopal  Prayerbook  as  used  today 
are  taken  from  the  Great  Bible,  and  are  from  Coverdale's 
translation  as  Tyndale's  work  had  stopped  with  II 
Chronicles.  They  were  retained  by  the  church  authori- 
ties, in  spite  of  many  errors,  because  the  people  had 
come  to  love  so  much  the  tenderness  and  poetic  beauty 
of  Coverdale's  wording.  It  was  Coverdale  who  intro- 
duced into  our  Bible  the  expressions  ''  loving-kindness," 
and  ''  tender  mercy." 

A  revision  of  the  Great  Bible,  the  third  in  this  Tyndale- 
Coverdale  group,  was  published  about  thirty  years  later, 
and  was  known  as  the  Bishop's  Bible,  because  a  number 
of  prominent  bishops  had  contributed  to  it.  This 
revision  did  not  vary  from  the  '*  Great  Bible  "  in  many 
places,  and  unfortunately  some  of  the  changes  were  not 
improvements.  It  is  of  interest  to  us  chiefly  because 
the  scholars  who  prepared  ,the  King  James  Version 
used  it  as  the  basis  of  their  work.     It  may,  therefore, 


A  MASTERPIECE  OF  LITERATURE        263 

be  called  the  lineal  ancestor  of  that  version.  Through 
it  the  work  of  Tyndale  and  Coverdale  was  handed  on 
to  future  generations. 

The  Puritan  and  Roman  Catholic  Bibles 

There  were  two  other  English  versions  which  the  King 
James  translators  frequently  consulted.  One  of  these 
was  the  Geneva  Bible,  the  work  of  Puritan  exiles  who 
fled  to  Geneva,  during  the  reign  of  the  Roman  Catholic 
queen  Mary  (1553-1558).  The  other  was  the  so-called 
Rheims-Douay  Bible,  prepared  in  turn  by  Roman  Catholic 
exiles  in  France,  after  Mary  had  been  succeeded  by  the 
Protestant  Elizabeth. 

The  leading  spirit  in  the  preparation  of  the  Geneva 
Bible  was  William  Whittingham.  He  and  his  associates 
were  thorough  students  and  corrected  many  errors  in 
the  earlier  versions.  Many  of  their  expressions,  especially 
in  the  prophetical  books,  are  retained  in  the  Authorized 
Version.  Puritan  ideas  were  expressed  in  marginal 
notes.  This  was  the  first  English  version  in  which 
the  Bible  text  was  divided  into  chapters  and  verses,  as 
at  present.  The  Hebrew  text  had  been  so  divided  for 
many  centuries.  As  for  the  Greek  text  of  the  New 
Testament,  it  is  said  that  the  verses  were  made  by 
Stephen,  a  French  scholar,  associated  with  these  English 
Puritans  at  Geneva,  and  inserted  in  his  Greek  Testament 
while  he  was  on  a  journey  on  horseback  about  the  year 
1551.  The  Geneva  Bible  was  published  in  1560,  in  a 
small  convenient  size,  and  in  clear  Roman  type  rather 
than  the  old  Gothic  or  black-letter.  It  became  very 
popular  with  the  mass  of  the  English  people.  It  was  )i 
the  Bible  used  by  Shakespeare.  Copies  of  it  were 
probably  brought  to  America  by  the  Pilgrim  Fathers, 
on  the  Mayflower. 

The  great  influence  of  these  various  translations  by 
Protestants  finally  made  it  necessary  for  the  Roman 
Catholic  leaders  to  prepare  an  English  version  for  use 
among    their    people.     The    task    was    undertaken    by 


264  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

professors  in  the  Roman  Catholic  Seminary  for  English 
students  located  at  Rheims  and  later  moved  to  Douay. 
The  New  Testament  was  issued  at  Rheims  in  1582,  and 
the  Old  Testament  at  Douay  in  1609.  Notes  were  added 
giving  the  Roman  Catholic  interpretation  of  disputed 
texts. 

This  translation  was  made  not  from  the  original  Greek 
and  Hebrew,  but  from  the  Vulgate  and  therefore  per- 
petuates the  errors  of  the  Latin.  However,  it  brought 
over  into  English  much  of  the  stateliness  and  dignity 
of  the  Latin,  and  many  noble  renderings  in  the  King 
James  Version  were  taken  from  it. 

The  Making  of  the  King  James  Version 

In  January,  1604,  soon  after  the  death  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, and  the  accession  of  James  I,  a  conference  of  church 
leaders  was  called  by  the  king,  to  discuss  certain  ques- 
tions of  ecclesiastical  policy.  Among  other  things  it  was 
suggested  that  a  new  translation  of  the  Bible  should 
be  made.  King  James  at  once  favored  the  idea,  partly 
because  he  was  himself  something  of  a  scholar,  and  liked 
to  display  his  attainments.  He  was  also  greatly  dis- 
satisfied with  the  marginal  notes  of  the  Genevan  Bible 
which  had  already  gained  a  wide  circulation.  The 
Puritan  translators  of  this  version  were  strongly  demo- 
cratic in  their  sentiments,  and  did  not  believe  in  the  divine 
right  of  kings.  King  James  pointed  out  two  marginal 
notes  in  particular  which  offended  him.  In  a  note  on  the 
first  chapter  of  Exodus,  the  Hebrew  women  were  praised 
for  resisting  the  tyranny  of  Pharaoh.  In  I  Chron. 
15:16,  the  narrative  tells  how  Asa  deposed  his  mother 
from  being  queen.  The  translators  added  in  the  margin 
that  Asa  ought  not  only  to  have  deposed  her,  but  should 
also  have  killed  her.  These  notes,  said  King  James, 
"  savored  too  much  of  traitorous  and  dangerous 
conceits."  > 

With  the  king's  approval  and  support,  the  plans  for  a 
new  translation  were  carried  out.     About  fifty  of  the 


A  MASTERPIECE  OF  LITERATURE        265 

leading  scholars  in  the  kingdom  were  selected  and  divided 
into  six  groups,  two  in  Cambridge,  two  in  Oxford,  and 
two  in  London.  A  certain  section  of  the  Bible  was 
given  to  each  group,  and  a  small  committee  representing 
all  the  groups  went  over  the  entire  work  and  prepared 
it  for  the  press.  It  was  published  in  1611,  with  a  preface 
giving  some  account  of  the  purpose  of  the  work,  and  the 
manner  in  which  it  was  done:  "  Truly,  good  Christian 
reader,  we  never  thought  from  the  beginning  that  we 
should  need  to  make  a  new  translation,  nor  yet  to  make 
of  a  bad  one  a  good  one  —  but  to  make  a  good  one 
better,  or  out  of  many  good  ones  one  principal  good 
one,  not  justly  to  be  excepted  against;  that  hath  been 
our  endeavor,  that  our  mark.  Neither  did  we  disdain 
to  revise  that  which  we  had  done  and  to  bring  back  to 
the  anvil  that  which  we  had  hammered.  But  having 
and  using  as  great  helps  as  were  needful  and  fearing  no 
reproach  for  slowness,  nor  coveting  praise  for  expedition 
we  have  at  length  through  the  good  hand  of  the  Lord 
upon  us,  brought  the  work  to  that  pass  that  you  see." 

This  version  has  taken  its  place  as  one  of  the  master- 
pieces of  English  literatiu'e.  Its  greatness  is  largely 
due  to  the  eagerness  and  good  judgment  with  which 
its  authors  adopted  for  their  own  all  that  was  best  in 
earlier  versions.  Like  the  original  books  of  the  Bible 
this  translation  is  therefore  the  product  of  no  single 
individual,  but  rather  of  an  epoch,  and  that  epoch  one 
of  the  greatest  and  noblest  in  English  history. 

To  appreciate  the  beauty  of  the  King  James  Version, 
we  may  well  turn  for  a  contrast  to  a  selection  from  an 
attempted  improvement  which  was  published  in  1768. 
"  A  gentleman  of  a  splendid  family  and  opulent  fortune 
had  two  sons.  One  day  the  yoimger  approached  his 
father  and  begged  him  in  the  most  importunate  and 
soothing  terms  to  make  a  partition  of  his  effects  betwixt 
himself  and  his  elder  brother.  The  indulgent  father 
overcome  by  his  blandishments  immediately  divided 
all   his   fortunes   betwixt   them."     Compare   this   with: 


266  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

"  A  certain  man  had  two  sons:  and  the  younger  of  them 
said  to  his  father,  Father,  give  me  the  portion  of  goods 
that  falleth  to  me.  And  he  divided  unto  them  his 
living." 

Perhaps  the  best  description  of  this  great  version  is 
that  of  Faber.  "  It  Hves  on  the  ear  Hke  music  that 
can  never  be  forgotten,  Hke  the  sound  of  church  bells 
which  the  convert  hardly  knows  how  he  can  forego. 
It  is  part  of  the  national  mind  and  the  anchor  of  the 
national  seriousness.  The  memory  of  the  dead  passes 
into  it.  The  potent  traditions  of  childhood  are  stereo- 
typed in  its  verses.  The  power  of  all  the  griefs  and  trials 
of  a  man  is  hidden  beneath  its  words.  It  is  the  repre- 
sentative of  his  best  moments,  and  all  that  has  been 
about  him  of  soft  and  gentle  and  pure  and  penitent  and 
good  speaks  to  him  forever  out  of  his  English  Bible.  It 
is  his  sacred  thing  which  doubt  has  never  dimmed  and 
controversy  never  soiled." 


CHAPTER  XLIV 

A  QUEST  FOR  PERFECT  ACCURACY 

The  English  and  American  Revisions 

Great  as  were  the  merits  of  the  King  James  Version 
of  the  Bible  it  was  inevitable  that  after  three  centuries 
a  revision  would  be  necessary.  One  reason  for  this  was 
of  course  the  gradual  modification  of  the  English  lan- 
guage. Many  words  in  common  use  in  1611  are  entirely 
obsolete  today;  for  example,  leasing,  for  lying  (Psalm 
4:2),  and  daysman  for  umpire  (Job  9:  33).  Other  words 
have  changed  in  meaning;  let  is  no  longer  used  in  the 
sense  of  hinder  (II  Thess.  2 : 7.)  Grammatical  con- 
structions have  also  changed;  as  the  use  of  "  its,"  where 
the  King  James  Version  always  uses  **  his." 

An  even  more  important  reason  for  a  new  revision 
was  the  fact  that  the  version  of  1611  was  made  from 
comparatively  late  and  imperfect  manuscripts.  In  chap- 
ter thirty-eight  we  saw  that  errors  quickly  crept  into 
the  written  manuscripts  of  the  biblical  books,  and  that 
these  errors  gradually  multiplied  as  time  went  on.  The 
Greek  manuscripts  used  by  the  King  James  translators 
all  dated  from  as  late  as  800  A.D.,  and  contained  many 
errors. 

The  Oldest  Greek  New  Testaments 

There  were  in  existence,  however,  although  inaccessible 
to  those  scholars  of  1611,  many  copies  of  the  Greek  New 
Testament  which  were  centuries  older.  It  is  fortunate 
for  us  that  the  parchment  of  which  these  old  books  were 
made  has  proved  so  durable.  Our  modem  paper  is 
perishable.  Experts  are  in  doubt  whether  any  books  of 
the  twentieth  century,  even  those  printed  on  linen  paper, 
will  survive  two  hundred  years  of  time.     On  the  other 

267 


268  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

hand,  the  papyrus  of  ancient  times,  although  its  fibers 
were  easily  broken,  was  far  more  durable  than  the  paper 
of  today;  while  some  of  the  parchment  books  have 
survived  very  rough  treatment. 

Very  soon  after  the  publication  of  the  King  James 
Version,  some  of  these  older  and  more  reliable  manu- 
scripts were  made  available  for  English  scholars.  Since 
that  time  others  have  come  to  light.  All  these  manu- 
scripts, both  recent  and  early,  are  now  listed  imder 
certain  letters  or  numbers,  as  Codex  A,  or  Codex  B, 
and  the  location  of  each  is  known  to  all  scholars.  Photo- 
graphic fac-similes  of  the  most  important  ones  have 
been  distributed  among  all  the  leading  libraries  of  the 
world.  We  may  mention  four  of  them,  namely  codices 
A,  B,  C  and  Aleph.  As  Professor  Gregory  says,  these 
stand  forth  among  the  rest,  like  David's  four  mighty 
men. 

Codex  A  was  given  to  Charles  I  of  England  by  the 
Patriarch  of  Constantinople  in  1628.  It  is  now  in  the 
British  Museum.  It  was  probably  written  about  425 
A.D. 

Codex  B  has  been  in  the  Vatican  library  at  Rome  at 
least  since  1475,  but  it  is  only  within  the  last  century 
that  scholars  have  been  permitted  to  see  it.  It  was 
written  at  least  as  early  as  350  A.D. 

Codex  C  has  been  for  many  centuries  in  Paris.  It 
belongs  to  a  class  of  manuscripts  known  as  Palimpsests. 
This  means  that  sometime  during  the  middle  ages, 
when  writing  material  was  scarce,  the  monks  in  charge 
of  the  library,  where  it  was  kept,  seeing  that  the  ink 
had  faded  and  was  almost  illegible,  tore  the  leaves  apart, 
and  used  them  for  copying  other  things,  of  little  or  no 
interest  to  us.  Modem  scholars,  however,  by  applying 
chemicals,  have  caused  the  original  letters  to  stand  out 
more  distinctly,  so  that  with  patient  study  most  of  the 
words  may  be  deciphered.  Only  about  three-fifths  of 
the  New  Testament,  however,  is  preserved.  The  leaves 
containing  the  remainder  were  doubtless  thrown  away. 


ii 

m 


;i!!rJt;ir?tim!"^ini!riHM<n»f!i 


f 


I 


"^    "^ 


^  Sk^ 


^ 


X      -J 


S-l  M 

1 


A  QUEST  FOR  PERFECT  ACCURACY   269 

But  though  it  comes  to  us  maimed  and  disfigured,  like  a 
traveler  from  a  long  and  dangerous  voyage,  this  manu- 
script bears  a  priceless  testimony  regarding  the  correct 
wording  of  the  New  Testament  books.  The  original 
writing  dates  from  about  450  A.D. 

Codex  Aleph,  the  fourth  of  the  "  mighty  men,"  has 
also  had  a  somewhat  exciting  history.  In  the  year  1844  a 
young  scholar  named  Tischendorf,  from  the  University 
of  Leipsig,  visited  the  monastery  of  St.  Catherine  at 
Mount  Sinai.  While  there  he  found  in  a  wastebasket 
forty-three  leaves  of  an  old  manuscript,  and  the  monks 
let  him  have  them.  He  also  saw  other  leaves  which  they 
refused  to  give  him.  These  forty-three  leaves  proved  to 
be  from  an  old  copy  of  the  Greek  translation  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  Tischendorf  determined  to  get  the  rest  of 
the  manuscript  some  day  if  possible.  Nine  years  later  he 
returned  to  the  monastery,  and  again  fifteen  years  later, 
in  1859,  he  made  a  third  visit  and  spent  some  days  there 
without  success.  But  the  night  before  he  was  to  leave, 
the  steward  of  the  monastery  invited  him  to  his  room,  and 
showed  him  a  great  pile  of  leaves  of  parchment,  wrapped 
in  cloth  on  a  shelf.  The  steward  allowed  him  to  take  the 
pile  to  his  room,  and  he  sat  up  all  night  looking  at  it,  in 
an  ecstasy  of  joy,  for  it  proved  to  contain  not  merely  the 
Greek  Old  Testament  but  also  the  New  Testament 
complete;  and  to  his  practiced  eye,  it  was  clear  that  the 
writing  was  very  old.  The  next  morning  he  tried  to  get 
the  monks  to  let  him  have  it,  but  they  refused.  Ten 
years  later  (in  1869),  however,  it  was  secured  from  them 
by  the  Russian  government,  and  it  may  now  be  seen  in 
the  Imperial  Library  at  Petrograd. 

This  manuscript  and  Codex  B,  at  the  Vatican,  are 
probably  the  two  best  Greek  manuscripts  so  far  dis- 
covered. It  is  believed  that  they  both  belonged  to  a 
collection  of  fifty  Bibles  prepared  for  the  Emperor 
Constantine  at  Caesarea,  in  331,  under  the  direction  of 
Eusebius,  the  church  historian.     Indeed  to  judge  from 


270  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

peculiarities  of  the  handwriting,  the  same  scribe  wrote 
parts  of  both. 

In  addition  to  these  Greek  manuscripts,  there  have 
recently  been  discovered  a  number  of  copies  of  very 
ancient  translations  of  the  New  Testament.  A  very 
valuable  Syriac  New  Testament  was  discovered  in  1892, 
by  two  English  ladies,  Mrs.  Lewis  and  Mrs.  Gibson, 
in  the  same  monastery  of  St.  Catherine  on  Mount  Sinai 
where  Tischendorf  found  Codex  Aleph.  These  ancient 
translations  are  invaluable  witnesses  to  the  correct 
Greek  wording. 

The  Science  of  Textual  Criticism 

Not  only  have  we  found  these  older  and  more  accurate 
copies  of  the  New  Testament,  but  modern  scholars 
have  also  learned  to  use  to  better  advantage  whatever 
manuscripts  they  may  have.  A  new  science  has  grown 
up  called  textual  criticism,  which  is  the  science  of  dis- 
covering, in  accordance  with  certain  laws,  the  most 
accurate  wording  of  ancient  writings.  One  of  the  most 
important  laws  of  this  science  is  that  of  genealogy. 
When  a  copy  is  made  from  any  manuscript,  the  new  copy 
is  a  child,  as  it  were,  of  the  older  one,  and  inherits  its 
mistakes.  Now  there  are  about  three  thousand  known 
manuscripts  of  the  Greek  New  Testament,  including 
incomplete  copies.  Scholars  have  discovered  that  these 
all  belong  to  two  or  three  great  families,  according  to 
their  differences  in  wording,  and  the  value  of  a  manu- 
script depends  in  no  small  degree  on  its  family.  Even 
though  it  may  not  be  very  ancient,  yet  if  it  belongs  to 
a  good  family,  it  is  more  likely  to  be  accurate  than  one 
which  is  older,  but  which  comes  from  a  less  accurate 
ancestry. 

^  As  the  fruit  of  an  enormous  amount  of  labor,  in  which 
these  principles  have  been  followed,  revised  Greek  texts 
have  been  published  in  recent  years,  which  probably  are 
nearly  identical  with  the  original  autograph  copies  of 
the  New  Testament  books. 


A  QUEST  FOR  PERFECT  ACCURACY   271 

The  English  and  American  Revisions 

All  these  new  manuscripts,  and  the  scientific  prog- 
ress of  modem  scholars  finally  have  made  possible 
translations  of  the  Bible  which  represent  far  more  ac- 
curately the  original  meaning  of  the  writers,  than  the 
King  James  Version.  In  1870,  all  the  leading  scholars 
in  England  were  invited  to  join  in  the  preparation  of 
a  Revised  Version.  There  was  a  committee  of  thirty- 
seven  for  the  Old  Testament,  and  twenty-seven  for  the 
New  Testament.  Meetings  were  held  in  Westminster 
Abbey  for  more  than  ten  years.  There  was  a  similar 
committee  in  the  United  States,  and  the  suggestions  of 
these  American  scholars  were  carefully  considered  by 
the  English  committee.  Finally  in  1881,  the  New 
Testament  was  published.  So  great  was  the  general 
interest  that  the  entire  New  Testament  in  its  new 
form  was  actually  sent  by  telegraph  from  New  York 
to  Chicago  and  published  in  one  of  the  newspapers. 
The  revised  Old  Testament  was  published  in  1885. 
These  editions  constitute  what  is  known  as  the  English 
Revision. 

There  was,  however,  room  for  further  improvement, 
and  the  American  committee  decided  to  continue  its 
organization.  In  1901  they  published  an  American 
Revised  Version,  which  embodied  a  large  number  of 
alterations  which  the  English  committee  had  rejected, 
and  also  other  changes. 

These  revised  versions  retain  the  beautiful  language 
and  wording  of  the  King  James  Version  so  far  as  possible, 
and  introduce  changes  only  in  the  interests  of  accuracy 
or  when  they  are  made  necessar}^  by  changes  in  English 
usage. 

The  Revised  Version  of  the  New  Testament  is  much 
more  satisfactory^  than  that  of  the  Old  Testament.  It 
is  generally  believed  that  much  work  remains  to  be 
done  on  the  latter.  This  is  because  it  is  so  difficult  to 
correct  the  Hebrew  text.     We  saw  that  all  the  copies  of 


272  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

the  Old  Testament  books  in  Hebrew,  except  the  one  which 
the  Rabbis  chose  for  a  standard,  were  lost  or  destroyed. 
This  standard  text  is  on  the  whole  a  very  good  one,  but 
it  is  not  perfect.  There  are  not  a  few  passages  which 
really  do  not  make  sense  at  all,  as  they  stand.  In  some 
places  the  Greek  translation  gives  a  better  sense,  and 
in  many  such  cases  it  is  evident  that  the  Greek  translators 
had  a  more  accurate  Hebrew  text  before  them,  than 
the  one  which  has  come  down  to  us.  Yet  scholars  have 
hesitated  to  use  the  Greek  translation  in  correcting  the 
Old  Testament,  because  it  also  is  full  of  errors.  In 
recent  years,  however,  scholars  have  learned  how  to  use 
the  Greek  in  spite  of  its  errors.  Several  excellent  transla- 
tions of  the  Old,  as  well  as  of  the  New  Testament,  have 
been  made  by  individual  Biblical  scholars  and  are  already 
being  widely  and  profitably  used,  for  they  are  based  on 
the  established  results  of  recent  scholarship  and  express 
the  thoughts  of  the  biblical  writers  in  clear,  vigorous 
English  idioms.  We  shall  perhaps  see  in  the  not  distant 
future  a  complete  English  translation  of  the  Old  Testa- 
ment which  will  be  the  greatest  forward  step  in  the 
whole  history  of  English  Old  Testament  revisions. 

In  the  meantime,  the  American  Standard  Version  is 
widely  recognized  as  the  most  accurate  complete  trans- 
lation now  current  among  English-speaking  peoples. 


CHAPTER  XLV 
THE  BIBLE  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS 

The  Story  of  the  Missionary  Translations 

The  story  of  the  missionary  translations  of  the  Bible 
goes  back  almost  to  the  time  of  the  apostles.  Within 
a  century  after  the  New  Testament  was  completed,  it 
had  been  rendered  into  Latin,  Syriac  and  Coptic.  Before 
the  close  of  the  first  six  Christian  centuries,  the  Bible 
was  known  in  eight  languages.  During  the  period  of 
the  Reformation  this  number  grew  to  twenty-four. 
Then  with  the  beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century 
came  a  wonderful  development  of  foreign  missions  in 
almost  all  parts  of  the  globe  which  has  now  continued 
for  more  than  a  hundred  years  with  steadily  increasing 
momentum.  As  a  result,  the  Bible  has  now  been  trans- 
lated in  whole  or  in  part  into  more  than  four  himdred 
and  fifty  languages.  Some  of  these  are  now  obsolete; 
and  the  total  number  of  living  tongues  in  which  the  Bible 
is  used  and  circulated  is  432.  Of  these,  56  are  in  Europe, 
50  in  North  and  South  America,  58  in  AustraHa  and 
the  South  Sea  Islands,  117  in  Africa,  and  175  in  Asia. 
It  is  estimated  that  seven  out  of  every  ten  of  the  world's 
inhabitants  have  had  the  Gospel  story  provided  for  them 
in  their  ov^ti  tongue.  There  are  still  a  large  number 
of  minor  languages  or  dialects,  spoken  by  a  limited 
number  of  people,  into  which  the  Bible  has  not  been 
translated.  Most  of  these,  however,  are  rapidly  dis- 
appearing and  the  people  who  spoke  them  are  adopting 
one  of  the  great  civilized  tongues.  Thus  the  ideal  set 
forth  in  the  story  of  Pentecost  has  been  realized.  The 
nations  of  the  world  have  heard  the  Gospel  proclaimed, 
all  "in  their  own  language  wherein  they  were  bom." 

Even  from  the  scientific  point  of  view  this  is  a  remark- 
able achievement.     The   science   of   language,   or   com- 

273 


274  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

parative  philology  has  been  made  possible  by  the  labors 
of  these  devoted  missionary  translators.  Some  of  them 
were  really  geniuses  in  this  field.  WilHam  Carey,  the 
great  missionary  to  India,  was  one  of  the  greatest  lin- 
guists known  to  history.  It  is  said  that  he  supervised 
the  pubHcation  of  the  Bible  in  no  less  than  forty  different 
languages.  Many  of  these  translations  were  his  own 
work.  Elias  Riggs,  the  American  missionary  to  Turkey, 
was  another  genius.  He  had  a  working  knowledge  of 
twenty  languages,  was  master  of  twelve,  and  gave  the 
Bible  to  four  nations.  These  men  are  only  two  of  scores 
of  others  who  might  be  mentioned  with  honor. 

Nearly  all  of  the  great  missionary  translators  were 
aided  in  their  labors  by  a  most  noteworthy  agency, 
the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  with  its  branches 
or  allied  organizations  in  America  and  elsewhere.  This 
movement  began  in  1802.  The  attention  of  the  Christian 
leaders  of  England  had  been  called  to  the  need  for  a 
wider  distribution  of  a  Welsh  translation  of  the  Bible 
in  Wales.  "  Surely  a  society  might  be  formed  for  this 
purpose.  But  if  for  Wales,  why  not  for  the  kingdom? 
Why  not  for  the  world?  "  So  spoke  Rev.  Joseph  Hughes, 
a  Baptist  minister.  And  his  suggestion  led  to  the  organ- 
ization of  the  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society,  with 
the  purpose  of  encouraging  the  wider  circulation  of 
the  Bible  without  note  or  comment.  This  society  and 
its  sister  societies  have  helped  to  support  missionary 
translators,  and  have  undertaken  the  printing  of  large 
numbers  of  these  missionary  versions.  They  have  also 
kept  large  numbers  of  colporteurs  or  Bible  salesmen  in 
the  field  who  in  the  course  of  the  century  have  distributed 
literally  hundreds  of  millions  of  Bibles,  in  every  continent, 
from  the  frozen  north,  to  the  burning  tropics. 

The  Romance  of  Missionary  Translation 

The  difficulties  involved  in  the  work  of  translating  the 
Bible  into  these  many  languages,  and  the  skill,  per- 
sistence and  heroism  with  which  they  have  been  over- 


THE  BIBLE  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS    275 

come,  form  a  most  fascinating  story.  In  many  cases, 
the  missionaries  were  the  first  visitors  from  western  civili- 
zation to  the  regions  in  which  they  worked,  and  they 
had  to  solve  the  mysteries  of  the  language  single  handed, 
and  unaided  by  interpreters.  Sometimes  many  years 
passed  before  they  succeeded  in  discovering  all  the 
words  which  were  necessary  for  expressing  the  Christian 
message.  Rev.  Willis  R.  Hotchkiss,  a  missionary  to 
Africa,  says  that  he  spent  two  and  a  half  years  looking 
for  a  single  word.  How  he  finally  discovered  it,  he 
tells  as  follows:  ''  One  night  my  people  were  seated 
around  the  campfire.  I  listened  to  their  stories,  and 
finally  my  head-man,  Kikuni,  told  a  story  from  which 
I  hoped  much,  a  story  of  a  man  who  was  killed  by  a 
lion.  But  he  never  said  a  word  which  I  could  construe 
to  be  the  one  I  wanted.  I  was  about  to  turn  away  when 
he  said  *  Bwana  nukuthaniwa  ne  Kikuni.'  (The  master 
was  saved  by  Kikuni.)  I  immediately  said  to  him 
*  Uku  thani  Bwana?  '  (You  saved  the  master?)  'Yes,' 
said  he.  *  Why '  said  I,  '  this  is  the  word  I've  been  wanting 
you  to  tell  me  all  these  days,  because  I  wanted  to  tell 

you  that  Jesus  died  to '  *  Master,  I  understand  now  I' 

he  shouted,  his  black  face  lighting  up  in  the  lurid  blaze 
of  the  campfire.  '  This  is  what  you  have  been  trying 
to  tell  us  all  these  moons.  Jesus  died  to  save  us  from 
sin.'  " 

Reducing  Languages  to  Writing 

Hundreds  of  languages  have  been  reduced  to  writing 
for  the  first  time,  by  missionary  translators.  In  most 
cases  our  English  (i.e.  Roman)  letters  have  been  found 
sufficient  to  express  all  the  sounds.  In  one  case,  however, 
a  most  ingenious  system  of  characters,  somewhat  like 
our  shorthand,  was  devised.  The  inventor  was  Rev. 
James  Evans,  missionary  to  the  Cree  Indians  in  north- 
west Canada.  These  Indians  were  obliged  to  live  by 
hunting  and  fishing,  and  hence  could  not  stay  long  in 
one  place.     If  they  were  to  learn   to   read,   therefore, 


276  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

they  needed  a  very  simple  system  of  letters,  which,  if 
possible,  would  do  away  with  the  necessity  of  learning 
to  spell.  The  plan  worked  out  by  Mr.  Evans  was  a 
great  success.  He  made  his  own  type  out  of  the  sheets 
of  lead  which  lined  the  tea-chests  brought  in  by  the  fur 
traders.  For  ink,  he  used  a  mixture  of  soot  and  stur- 
geon's oil.  For  paper,  he  used  white  birch-bark.  In 
a  very  short  time,  nearly  every  Indian  in  the  tribe  was 
eagerly  reading  these  pieces  of  "  talking  bark."  Later 
on,  a  fine  set  of  type  was  made,  and  real  paper  books 
were  printed,  using  the  new  characters.  These  were 
adopted  by  other  Indian  tribes,  and  are  said  to  be  still 
in  use. 

The  Lack  of  Words  for  Bible  Ideas 

To  express  the  rich  and  varied  ideas  of  the  Bible  in 
a  crude  dialect  containing  perhaps  only  a  few  hundred 
words,  is  found  to  be  a  most  perplexing  task.  Suppose 
we  are  trying  to  give  the  Bible  to  a  tropical  island  in 
the  South  Seas,  where  the  temperature  never  falls  below 
the  freezing  point;  how  shall  we  translate  into  their 
language.  Job  38:29? 

Out  of  whose  womb  came  the  ice? 

And  the  hoary  frost  of  heaven,  who  hath  gendered  it? 

Still  more  perplexing  is  the  problem  of  finding  words  to 
express  the  lofty  moral  and  spiritual  truths  of  the  Bible. 
For  example  there  was  no  word  for  God  in  the  Chinese 
language.  The  nearest  approaches  to  it  were  words 
meaning  ghosts,  or  the  sun.  The  languages  of  heathen 
tribes  are  generally  very  deficient  in  words  for  righteous- 
ness or  moral  goodness.  In  the  languages  of  Tahiti 
there  was  no  word  for  faith.  How  could  there  be,  when 
the  whole  atmosphere  of  their  life  was  suspicion!  In 
Maori  there  was  no  word  for  hope;  they  had  no  use  for 
such  a  word ;  their  lives  were  too  full  of  hopelessness. 

To  meet  these  difficulties  the  translators  sometimes 
coined  new  words,  or  imported  words  from  more  civilized 


THE  BIBLE  IN  NON-CHRISTIAN  LANDS    277 

languages.  More  often,  however,  they  took  the  best 
words  they  could  find  in  the  native  tongue,  and  sought 
to  read  into  them  new  meaning.  For  example,  in  Malag- 
asy, the  native  language  of  Madagascar,  there  was  no 
word  for  purity;  so  the  translators  used  the  word  '*  white- 
ness ";  and  this  word  thus  became  freighted  with  a 
wealth  of  new  meaning.  In  many  languages  there  was 
originally  no  word  for  conscience;  so  the  missionaries 
had  to  take  some  word  like  *'  meditation  "  and  explain 
as  best  they  could  the  new  sense  in  which  they  used 
it.  This  method  has  proved  very  successful.  When 
the  Bible  has  been  rendered  into  a  heathen  language, 
it  has  had  the  same  result  as  when  the  truth  of  the  Bible 
has  entered  into  the  heart  of  a  human  being.  It  has 
been  a  purifying,  transforming,  ennobling  influence. 

The  Power  of  the  Bible  as  a  Missionary  Agency 

John  G.  Paton,  in  his  autobiography,  tells  of  the  welcome 
which  was  given  to  his  first  translation  of  Bible  books 
in  the  language  of  Aniwa,  in  the  New  Hebrides  Islands. 

''  '  Missi,  is  it  done?  '  said  the  old  chief  Nomakei. 
*  Can  it  speak? ' 

"  '  Yes.'  ^ 

"  '  Does  it  speak  my  words? ' 

"  '  It  does.' 

"  *  Make  it  speak  to  me,  Missi.  Let  me  hear  it  speak.' 
I  read  to  him  a  part  of  the  book,  and  the  old  man  shouted 
in  an  ecstasy  of  joy." 

Then  the  missionary  taught  the  old  man  his  alphabet, 
first  fitting  his  eyes  with  glasses,  for  he  was  nearsighted. 
And  from  that  time  on,  whenever  people  came  around 
him  he  would  get  out  his  little  book.  **  Come,"  he 
would  say,  *'  I  will  let  you  hear  how  the  book  speaks 
our  own  Aniwan  words.  You  say  it  is  hard  to  learn  to 
read,  and  make  it  speak.  But  be  strong  and  try.  If  an 
old  man  like  me  has  done  it,  it  ought  to  be  much  easier 
for  you." 

In  the  Hindu  province  of^Dacca  missionary  explorers 


278  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

once  discovered  several  villages  of  Hindu  peasants,  who 
had  given  up  idol- worship,  were  renowned  for  their 
truthfulness,  and  were  searching  for  a  true  teacher  come 
from  God.  They  called  themselves  Satya-Gooroos.  When 
the  missionaries  inquired  how  they  had  come  by  this 
religion,  they  brought  out  a  much  worn  book  kept  in 
a  wooden  box  in  one  of  their  villages.  No  one  could 
say  whence  it  came.  They  only  knew  that  they  had 
possessed  it  many  years.  It  was  a  copy  of  the  Bengali 
New  Testament,  translated  by  William  Carey. 

The  annals  of  the  Bible  societies  contain  many  such 
incidents,  showing  the  power  of  the  Bible  message  over 
the  human  heart,  even  when  carried  by  lifeless  ink  and 
paper.  The  Bible  is  a  book  of  life.  It  is  forever  demand- 
ing to  be  translated  and  the  translation  into  spoken 
or  written  words  is  but  the  first  step.  The  next  step, 
and  the  next,  and  the  next,  is  the  endless  process  of 
translation  into  living  deeds. 


CHAPTER  XLVI 

THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  SPADE 

The  Discoveries  of  Modern  Archeology 

In  many  ways  the  century  in  which  we  are  Hving  is 

the  greatest  century  of  Bible  study  that  the  world  has 

yet  seen.     Not  only  do  we  have  an  accurate  and  beautiful 

translation  of  the  Bible  in  English;  not  only  have  similar 

translations  been  made  into  nearly  all  modem  languages ; 

but  a  flood  of  new  light  has  been  shed  on  the  meaning 

of  the  Bible,  especially  by  the  wonderful  discoveries  of 

those  patient   investigators   who   with  pick   and   spade 

have  gradually  been  uncovering  the  buried  ruins  of  the 

civilizations  of  Bible  times.     The  story  of  their  labors 

is  a  romance  in  itself. 

Deciphering  the  Hieroglyphics  of  Ancient  Egypt 

All  through  the  Middle  Ages,  travelers  from  Europe 
stood  in  amazement  before  the  pyramids,  temples  and 
monuments  of  Egypt,  and  looked  in  puzzled  wonder  at 
the  many  strange  inscriptions  upon  them.  These  were 
evidently  a  kind  of  picture-writing,  but  the  meaning  was 
an  absolute  mystery. 

A  clue  to  the  solution  of  the  problem  was  not  found 
until  1799.  In  that  year  some  engineers  connected  with 
Napoleon's  army  discovered  a  large  slab  of  black  granite 
on  which  an  inscription  was  carved  in  three  languages, 
in  parallel  lines,  one  of  w^hich  was  Greek;  the  other 
two  appeared  to  be  different  forms  of  Egyptian.  This 
famous  fragment  of  rock  is  called  the  Rosetta  stone. 
(Now  in  the  British  Museum.)  Of  course  the  Greek 
was  quickly  spelled  out  and  translated ;  it  proved  to  be  a 
decree  by  Egyptian  priests  in  honor  of  Ptolemy  V  and 
his  queen  Cleopatra.  But  even  with  the  Greek  as  a 
key,  it  was  no  easy  matter  to  decipher  the  Egyptian 

279 


280  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

words  in  the  parallel  lines.  Where  did  the  words  begin 
and  end?  Were  they  spelled  out  alphabetically,  or 
was  there  a  special  sign  for  each  word  as  in  Chinese? 
The  answers  to  all  these  questions  were  finally  found  by 
a  French  scholar,  Champollion.  He  heard  about  the 
Rosetta  stone  in  1802,  when  he  was  a  boy  of  11,  and 
even  from  this  early  age,  his  chief  ambition  in  life  was 
the  decipherment  of  that  wonderful  unknown  language. 
He  first  succeeded  in  identifying  certain  proper  names, 
such  as  Alexander,  Ptolemy  and  Cleopatra  and  then 
used  these  to  work  out  the  other  words.  When  he  died 
in  1832,  he  had  translated  many  Egyptian  texts,  and 
had  gathered  the  necessary  facts  for  an  Egyptian  gram- 
mar and  lexicon. 

Since  then,  the  scholars  of  the  world  have  gradually 
laid  before  us  the  whole  story  of  the  ancient  Egyptian 
life,  which  influenced  Hebrew  history  at  so  many  points. 
We  have  found  inscriptions  of  old  Ramses  II,  the  king 
who  ''  knew  not  Joseph,"  and  have  read  his  own  account 
of  the  great  buildings  on  which  his  serfs  were  compelled 
to  labor.  We  have  unearthed  his  store-city  Pithom, 
built  by  the  Hebrews,  and  we  find  that  the  upper  layers 
of  bricks  are  in  part  "  without  straw."  We  even  have 
his  body  preserved  as  a  mummy. 

We  are  also  given  a  much  fuller  knowledge  of  the 
concrete  life  out  of  which  all  the  events  grew,  of  which 
we  read  in  the  books  of  Genesis  and  Exodus.  Thus 
the  Bible  narratives  are  not  only  confirmed  and  verified, 
but  are  made  more  real  to  our  imagination,  and  more 
full  of  human  interest. 

The  Story  of  the  Cuneiform  Inscriptions 

There  was  another  unknown  script,  by  which  European 
travelers  in  the  Orient  were  long  puzzled.  The  Arabs 
call  it  mismari,  or  nail- writing.  The  usual  term  for  it 
is  cuneiform  or  wedge-shaped  writing.  The  illustration 
facing  page  92,  will  show  the  appropriateness  of  these 
names.     Inscriptions  in  these  wedge-shaped  characters 


THE  MOABITE  STONE. 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  SPADE  281 

were  observed  in  Persia  as  early  as  1472  by  Josaphat  Bar- 
baro,  a  Venetian  traveler,  and  by  others,  but  until  modem 
times  this  writing  was  as  unintelligible  as  the  Egyptian. 
The  scholars  who  undertook  to  decipher  it  were  not 
fortunate  enough  to  find  a  key  like  the  Rosetta  stone, 
with  sentences  in  Greek  running  parallel  with  the  im- 
known  writing.  It  was  rightly  surmised,  however,  that 
the  majority  of  these  Persian  inscriptions  must  represent 
the  Persian  language,  which  was  already  known  in 
another  form.  Early  in  the  nineteenth  century,  the  great 
German  scholar  Grot ef end,  by  patient  effort  distin- 
guished certain  recurring  groups  of  characters,  which 
he  thought  were  records  of  Persian  kings.  This  group 
of  characters  he  surmised  might  correspond  to  the  Persian 
words  meaning  * '  great  king,  king  of  kings. ' '  It  turned  out 
that  he  had  found  the  clue  to  the  labyrinth,  and  soon 
many  of  these  Persian  inscriptions  were  deciphered  and 
translated. 

There  were  other  cuneiform  inscriptions,  however, 
in  which  the  same  characters  were  used,  but  out  of  which 
no  Persian  words  could  be  made,  and  which  were  evi- 
dently in  another  language.  This,  as  we  now  know, 
was  Babylonian  or  Assyrian,  a  language  which  the 
human  race  had  wholly  forgotten  for  more  than  a  thou- 
sand years.  Already,  however,  inscriptions  had  been 
found  which  were  written  both  in  Persian  and  in  Baby- 
lonian, and  now  that  the  sounds  of  many  of  the  cuneiform 
characters  had  been  discovered,  these  parallel  inscriptions 
soon  gave  up  their  secrets  to  a  number  of  brilliant  scholars 
working  independently.  One  of  the  most  famous  of 
them  was  an  English  army  officer,  Sir  Henry  RawHnson. 
In  the  Zagros  mountains  in  Persia,  near  where  RawHnson 
was  at  one  time  stationed,  there  is  an  enormous  Persian- 
Babylonian  inscription  carved  on  the  face  of  the  Behistun 
precipice,  500  feet  above  the  level  of  the  plain,  \\ith 
characters  from  eleven  to  twelve  feet  high.  Rawlinson 
copied  part  of  this  inscription  with  the  aid  of  a  field- 
glass,  in  1835,  and  later  risked  his  life  climbing  the  face 


282  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

of  the  cliff  and  finishing  his  copy.  In  1846  he  published 
a  translation  of  the  Persian  text,  and  in  1851  a  translation 
of  112  lines  of  the  Babylonian  text.  He  also  made  a 
transliteration  of  the  Babylonian  words  into  English 
letters  showing  how  they  should  be  pronounced.  Thus 
the  ancient  speech  of  the  Tigris-Euphrates  valley  had 
now  come  to  life  again,  on  the  lips  of  these  tireless  scholars. 

At  about  the  same  period,  excavations  were  imdertaken 
on  the  great  mounds  near  the  Tigris  river,  in  the  territory 
of  ancient  Assyria,  by  the  French  consul,  Botta,  an 
Englishman  named  A.  H.  Layard,  and  others.  The 
earth  had  vScarcely  been  scratched,  before  wonderful 
sculptured  images  and  monuments  began  to  come  to  light, 
covered  with  cuneiform  inscriptions.  Ere  long,  the  ex- 
plorers found  themselves  standing  amidst  the  uncovered 
ruins  of  palaces  which  had  been  the  pride  of  the  con- 
querors of  the  world.  It  was  hard  to  believe  that  the 
original  inhabitants  had  been  dead  three  thousand  years : 
so  striking  were  the  traces  of  their  every-day  life;  e.g., 
bake-shops,  wine-cellars,  and  agricultural  implements. 
Some  of  the  iron  tools  were  so  well  preserved  that  they 
could  still  be  used,  and  were  used,  in  the  excavations. 
The  excitement  of  these  discoveries  stirred  the  world. 
Even  the  ignorant  Arab  workmen  caught  the  spirit. 
One  day  when  the  English  explorer  Layard  was  visiting 
a  neighboring  sheikh,  some  distance  from  the  excavations, 
he  observed  two  Arabs  approaching  on  horseback  at 
top  speed.  *'  Hasten,  O  Bey,"  they  exclaimed,  ''  hasten 
to  the  diggers,  for  they  have  found  Nimrod  himself. 
Wallah  it  is  wonderful,  but  it  is  true!  We  have  seen 
him  with  our  eyes.  There  is  no  God,  but  God."  Re- 
turning with  them,  Layard  found  that  they  had  indeed 
unearthed  an  enormous  winged  lion  with  a  human  head, 
which  they  thought  must  be  an  image  of  Nimrod  himself. 
It  is  now  in  the  British  Museum. 

Among  the  greatest  of  these  discoveries,  in  its  relation 
to  our  knowledge  of  the  Bible,  was  an  entire  library 
of  inscribed  clay  tablets,   the  library  of  the  Assyrian 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  SPADE  283 

ruler,  Asshur-banipal.  (Discovered  about  1850.)  Since 
that  time,  in  the  face  of  danger  from  disease,  and  from 
hostile  Arab  tribes,  similar  excavations  have  been  made 
in  many  places  in  the  Tigris-Euphrates  valley.  An 
enormous  quantity,  literally  ship-loads,  of  carvings  and 
clay  tablets  and  other  material,  has  been  found. 
I  Something  of  what  this  has  meant  to  Bible  students, 
i  we  have  already  seen  in  the  preceding  chapters  of 
this  book.  As  a  result  of  these  discoveries,  we  have 
the  Babylonian  Deluge  story,  which  throws  much  light 
on  the  origin  of  the  story  of  Noah  in  the  Bible.  We 
have  the  law-code  of  Hammurabi,  similar  in  many  ways 
to  the  early  Hebrew  law-codes.  We  have  the  personal 
memoirs  of  Shalmanezar,  Tiglath-Pilezer,  Sargon,  Sen- 
nacherib, Nebuchadrezzar,  and  other  Assyrian  and 
Babylonian  kings  mentioned  in  the  Bible,  giving  their 
own  versions  of  their  relations  with  the  people  of  Israel, 
and  mentioning  by  name,  many  of  the  Hebrew  kings, 
such  as  Omri,  Jehu  and  Hezekiah.  In  short,  it  was  not 
merely  dead  languages  which  came  to  life  when  the 
cuneiform  and  the  Egyptian  scripts  were  deciphered; 
rather  has  a  dead  world  come  to  life,  the  larger  world 
of  that  ancient  civilization  of  which  the  little  nation  of 
Israel  was  in  some  ways  a  very  small  but  exceedingly 
important  part. 

Explorations  in  Palestine 

One  might  suppose  that  it  would  be  the  sacred  soil  of 
Palestine  itself  to  which  the  explorer  would  turn  most 
eagerly  with  his  spade,  and  from  which  the  most  precious 
relics  of  the  past  would  be  recovered.  Unfortunately 
the  climate  of  Palestine,  with  its  annual  rainy  season, 
is  not  favorable  to  the  preservation  of  written  records, 
or  even  of  buildings.  Yet  many  interesting  finds  have 
been  made,  among  them  being  the  conduit  or  water 
tunnel,  built  by  King  Hezekiah  to  bring  water  to  the 
Pool  of  Siloam,  inside  the  city  walls.  (II  Kings  20 :  20.) 
In  the  year  1880  some  boys  were  swimming  in  this  ancient 


284  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

pool,  and  venturing  up  into  the  conduit  a  little  distance, 
they  discovered  a  Hebrew  inscription.  This  gives  an 
account  of  the  building  of  the  tunnel.  It  tells  how  the 
two  parties  of  workmen  worked  toward  each  other  from 
either  end,  and  how  when  they  were  about  three  cubits 
apart,  they  could  hear  each  other's  voices  through  the 
rock. 

Another  famous  discovery  in  Palestine  is  the  so-called 
Moabite  stone.  (See  illustration  facing  page  280.)  This 
large  piece  of  basalt  was  found  in  1868,  in  Moab,  by  a 
German  missionary  named  Klein.  When  he  tried  to 
secure  it  for  the  British  Museum,  the  native  Arabs  broke 
it  in  pieces,  thinking  there  must  be  treasure  inside. 
Most  of  the  pieces  were  recovered  and  patched  together, 
and  it  is  now  in  the  Louvre,  in  Paris.  The  inscription 
is  from  Mesha,  king  of  Moab,  who  is  mentioned  in  II 
Kings  4 : 4-27.  It  gives  Mesha's  own  story  of  his  wars 
against  Omri  and  Ahab,  kings  of  Israel.  He  corroborates 
the  narrative  in  the  book  of  Kings. 

Much  has  also  been  done  in  Palestine  to  identify  the 
exact  sites  where  the  events  of  Bible  history  took  place. 
Explorers  in  GaHlee  have  rediscovered  many  of  the 
villages  in  which  Jesus  worked,  as  Chorazin,  Bethsaida, 
and  Capernaum.  The  ruins  of  an  ancient  synagogue  have 
been  excavated  on  the  site  of  Capernaum;  and  some 
of  the  foundation  stones  may  have  been  a  part  of  the  very 
building  in  which  Jesus  preached. 

Egyptian  Papyri 

Of  all  the  countries  in  the  world,  the  special  paradise 
of  the  archaeologist  with  his  spade,  is  Egypt,  for  not 
only  was  this  country  the  home  of  one  of  the  most  ancient 
of  human  civiHzations,  but  it  is  a  country  where  rain  is 
almost  unknown,  and  where  the  atmosphere,  from  one 
year's  end  to  another,  is  as  dry  as  the  desert-sands  by 
which  the  land  is  surrounded.  This  has  made  possible 
the  discovery  of  an  almost  inexhaustible  mine  of  buried 
papyri,  which  we  have  just  begun  to  appreciate.     These 


THE  BIBLE  AND  THE  SPADE  285 

come  from  old  heaps  of  waste  paper.  It  seems  to  have 
been  the  custom  in  Egypt  not  to  bum  waste  papers, 
but  to  dump  them  outside  the  town  limits,  and  let  the 
sand  sweep  over  them  and  bury  them.  As  time  went  on, 
more  rubbish  of  this  kind  would  accumulate  and  in  turn 
be  buried.  Near  the  site  of  every  ancient  Egyptian 
village,  therefore,  we  can  dig  do^vTi  today,  through  layer 
after  layer  of  these  rubbish  heaps,  sometimes  hundreds 
of  feet  deep. 

The  most  important  discoveries  thus  far  come  from 
early  Christian  times.  There  is  one  precious  sheet,  very 
badly  torn,  which  must  have  given  its  discoverers  a  thrill 
of  delight,  when  they  read  thereon  the  two  words:  "  Jesus 
saith."  (See  illustration  facing  page  286.)  Among  the 
sayings  of  Jesus  recorded  on  this  papyrus  are  some 
already  included  in  the  New  Testament.  There  are 
also  new  ones,  and  a  few  which  are  so  full  of  deep 
meaning  that  many  believe  them  to  be  genuine  utter- 
ances of  the  Great  Teacher.  Thus,  ''  Jesus  saith:  Where- 
ever  there  are  two,  they  are  not  without  God,  and  where 
there  is  one  only,  I  say  I  am  with  him.  Raise  the  stone 
and  thou  shalt  find  me;  cleave  the  wood  and  there  am  I." 

The  large  majority  of  the  documents  in  this  enormous 
mass  are  of  the  sort  that  one  would  expect  to  find  in 
a  sack  of  waste  paper  nowadays,  and  at  first  sight  are 
utterly  uninteresting.  Among  them  are  bills,  receipts 
and  other  business  forms,  official  notes  from  lawyers' 
offices,  almanacs,  and  private  letters  from  people  of  all 
degrees  of  culture.  Yet  the  explorers  at  work  at  this  task 
have  carefully  pieced  together  every  torn  and  tattered 
scrap,  and  have  published  many  volumes  containing  photo- 
graphic copies  of  them.  Surely  a  monumental  waste  of 
labor,  one  might  say.  Why  should  3^ou  and  I  care  to  know, 
for  example,  that  some  obscure  person  named  Marcellus, 
in  some  obscure  Egyptian  village,  paid  his  landlord  six 
shillings  rent,  on  such  and  such  a  date?  And  yet,  out 
of  this  great  mass  of  seemingly  useless  bits  of  writing 
we  have  learned  one  fact  of  the   greatest  importance 


286  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

regarding  the  language  of  the  New  Testament,  a  fact 
which  is  worth  all  the  labor  that  has  been  expended. 

Scholars  have  long  been  puzzled  by  the  great  difference 
between  the  Greek  of  the  New  Testament,  and  all  other 
Greek  books.  Not  only  does  it  differ  from  the  earlier 
classical  authors,  such  as  Plato  and  Xenophon,  but  it 
differs  almost  as  greatly  from  Greek  authors  such  as 
Plutarch  and  Josephus,  who  wrote  at  about  the  same 
general  period  as  the  New  Testament.  The  older 
explanation  of  these  differences  was  that  the  apostles 
wrote  in  the  language  of  the  Holy  Ghost:  that  is,  a 
language  which  was  never  in  common  use,  but  was  set 
apart  as  it  were,  for  the  sacred  Book. 

We  now  know,  however,  from  our  study  of  these  papyri 
from  Egyptian  waste-baskets,  that  the  language  of  the 
apostles  was  nothing  else  than  the  tongue  of  the  common 
people ;  the  language  which  they  used  in  their  homes  and 
in  the  market-places.  The  other  writers  of  that  day, 
Josephus  for  example,  tried  to  imitate  the  so-called 
classical  authors,  and  their  style  is  stilted  and  unnatural. 
But  the  New  Testament  writers  had  the  good  sense  to 
avoid  any  such  archaic,  out-of-date  language,  and  use 
the  every -day  speech  of  the  people.  Thus  once  again 
we  see  that  the  Bible  has  been  from  the  very  beginning 
the  book  of  the  common  people,  adapted  to  their  under- 
standing and  needs. 


RECENTLY   DISCOVERED   PAPYRUS 
SAYINGS   OF   JESUS. 


CHAPTER  XLVII 
THE  BIBLE,  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGION 

Rediscovering  Human  Elements  in  the  Bible  Books 
Within  the  last  generation  the  ideas  of  most  persons 
about  the  Bible  have  greatly  changed.  Formerly  it  was 
regarded  as  an  infallible  authority  on  all  subjects.  The 
final  and  conclusive  argument  in  all  questions,  was  *'  the 
Bible  says  so."  Questions  of  science  and  politics,  as 
well  as  of  morals  and  religion,  were  decided  by  *'  proofs 
of  Holy  Writ."  Pro-slavery  preachers  in  the  United 
States  quoted  the  story  of  Noah  and  Canaan,  and  the 
words,  *'  Cursed  be  Canaan."  Many  books  have  been 
written  by  temperance  advocates  to  prove  that  Jesus 
did  not  use  wine,  but  unfermented  grape  juice.  It 
was  supposed,  of  course,  that  whatever  the  Bible  taught 
on  any  subject,  was  absolutely  binding  on  us  today. 

This  attitude  toward  the  Bible,  however,  has  always 
been  beset  with  difficulties.  The  early  Greek  and  Roman 
opponents  of  Christianity  were  quick  to  point  out  in- 
consistencies in  the  various  Bible  narratives,  and  called 
attention  to  certain  passages  in  the  Old  Testament  which 
reflect  crude  and  undeveloped  moral  ideas,  and  which 
impute  to  the  Almighty  human  passions  and  weaknesses 
such  as  the  command  to  destroy  all  the  Canaanites  with- 
out mercy,  both  men,  women  and  children.  The  early 
Christian  leaders  met  these  objections  by  interpreting 
the  Bible  allegorically.  For  example,  the  list  of  Canaanite  , 
kings  in  Joshua  was  explained  as  a  list  of  sins.  This 
method  of  explanation  served  its  purpose  very  well  in 
those  days,  and  helped  many  a  Christian  to  keep  his 
faith  in  the  truth  of  the  Bible.  Unfortunately  "  if  you 
once  begin  such  a  system,"  as  old  St.  Agobard  of  Lyons 
remarked,  "  who  can  measure  the  absurdity  which  mil 
follow?  "     There  are  no  limits  except  the  powers  of  the 

287 


288  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

human  imagination.  The  ass  on  which  the  Saviour 
rode  into  Jerusalem  on  his  triumphal  entry,  was  explained 
as  the  Old  Testament,  and  the  ass's  colt  as  the  New 
Testament.  The  Shunamite  maiden  who  was  selected 
to  cherish  David  in  his  old  age,  was  made  to  represent 
divine  wisdom.  The  condemnation  of  the  serpent  to 
eat  dust  was  explained  as  typifying  the  sin  of  curiosity, 
since  in  eating  dust  he  *'  penetrates  the  obscure  and 
shadowy."  The  drunkenness  of  Noah  was  even  made 
to  typify  the  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ. 

In  the  time  of  the  Reformation,  the  greatest  leaders, 
such  as  Luther  and  Calvin,  turned  away  from  all  such 
vagaries,  and  insisted  that  the  Bible  must  be  interpreted 
in  its  plain,  literal  sense.  This,  however,  brought  back 
the  old  difficulties  arising  from  the  inconsistencies  and 
the  primitive  ideas  in  some  of  the  Bible  narratives. 

The  old  tendency  to  regard  the  Bible  as  an  absolutely 
infallible  book  has  been  gradually  modified  in  modem 
times  through  the  development  of  science  and  a  more 
careful  study  of  the  Bible  itself.  As  long  ago  as  the 
Reformation,  Galileo  and  Copernicus  laid  the  foundations 
of  modem  astronomy,  showing  that  the  earth  is  round, 
and  that  it  revolves  around  the  sun,  not  the  sun  around 
the  earth.  This  new  theory  aroused  a  storm  of  criticism. 
Luther  called  Copernicus  a  fool.  Galileo  was  tried  for 
heresy  by  the  Roman  Church,  and  was  forced  to  renounce 
his  belief  that  the  earth  moves,  although  under  his 
breath  he  kept  saying,  "  Yet  it  does  move."  Even 
down  to  recent  times  many  persons  have  refused  to  accept 
these  teachings  of  astronomy,  because  the  Bible  speaks 
of  *'  the  comers  of  the  earth." 

After  astronomy  came  geology.  The  first  chapter  of 
Genesis  tells  us  that  the  earth  was  created  in  six  days; 
but  the  pioneers  in  geology,  such  as  Lyell,  found  in  the 
rocks  themselves  unmistakable  traces  of  a  history 
extending  over  millions  of  years.  And  then  came  Darwin 
and  his  theory  of  evolution,  according  to  which  man 
himself  was  not  created  outright  from  a  lump  of  clay, 


THE  BIBLE,  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGION    289 

through  the  vitaHzing  breath  of  God,  as  described  in 
Genesis,  but  was  evolved  from  a  form  similar  to  the 
lower  animals  of  today,  the  process  extending  over 
hundreds  of  thousands  of  years.  Again  there  was  a 
great  outcry  against  these  new  ideas,  which  were  said 
to  be  contrary  to  the  Bible.  It  was  indeed  a  painful 
position  in  which  Christians  found  themselves.  Some 
closed  their  eyes  to  the  facts  of  science,  and  clung  to  the 
Bible.  Others  accepted  science,  and  felt  compelled  to 
give  up  altogether  their  faith  in  the  Bible  and  in  Chris- 
tianity. 

Then  there  began  a  quiet  movement  on  the  part  of  a 
few  scholars,  here  and  there,  who  neither  denounced 
the  Bible  as  false,  nor  defended  it  as  infallible,  but  simply 
asked,  What  are  these  books  which  are  grouped  together 
as  the  Bible  ?  Judging  from  the  evidence  of  the  language 
in  the  books  themselves,  and  the  testimony  of  other 
writers,  when  were  they  written,  by  whom,  and  in  what 
circumstances  ?  As  long  ago  as  the  days  of  Louis  XIV,  in 
France  (about  1700),  a  physician  named  Astruc,  a  Roman 
Catholic,  wrote  a  book  showing  from  the  varying  use 
of  the  words  Jehovah  and  God,  that  two  documents  were 
used  in  the  Pentateuch.  In  the  nineteenth  century, 
this  kind  of  investigation  grew  to  be  an  independent 
science.  Among  the  pioneers  was  a  German  professor 
named  DeWette,  who  was  driven  out  of  Germany  for 
his  writings,  and  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Switzerland. 
This  new  science  seems  to  show  that  the  Bible  is  a  very 
human  book.  The  laws  of  Moses  are  now  seen  to  be 
the  product  of  centuries  of  experience  on  the  part  of 
the  Hebrew  people,  and  were  impressed  on  the  minds 
and  hearts  of  the  Hebrew  people  rather  than  written  on 
tables  of  stone.  The  prophets  were  great  reformers, 
preachers  of  righteousness,  pointing  out  to  the  people 
of  their  own  generation  their  injustice  to  the  weak, 
and  their  disloyalty  to  Jehovah.  They  were  not  primarily 
concerned  with  the  prediction  of  future  events  although 
they  often  warned  their  hearers  of  the  future  conse- 


290  THE  STORY  OF  OUR  BIBLE 

quences  of  their  sins,  and  promised  future  rewards  for 
right  conduct. 

We  cannot  wonder  that  some  were  disturbed  by  this 
new  interpretation  of  the  Bible.  ''  If  the  Bible  is  not 
true  from  cover  to  cover,"  they  said,  "  then  who  knows 
whether  or  not  any  of  it  is  true  ?  Let  us  have  nothing  to 
do  with  it." 

On  the  other  hand,  many  more  accepted  these  new 
ideas,  and  suddenly  discovered  that  to  them  the  value 
of  the  Bible  had  been  extraordinarily  increased.  Though 
they  no  longer  expected  to  find  it  a  textbook  in  natural 
science,  nor  in  all  its  parts  equally  authoritative  even  in 
matters  of  morals  and  religion,  yet  they  have  found  it  their 
chief  source  of  inspiration  for  right  living.  They  have  seen 
that  it  is  no  less  a  divine  book  for  being  so  thoroughly 
human.  Just  as  God's  spirit  has  found  expression 
through  certain  great  souls,  in  all  ages,  and  supremely 
in  Jesus  Christ,  so  in  the  Bible  writings,  we  see  God's 
truth  becoming  more  and  more  perfectly  expressed  in 
human  words,  and  supremely  in  the  great  passages  of 
the  prophets,  psalmists,  evangelists  and  apostles.  We 
see  that  the  authors  of  the  Bible  were  men  and  women 
of  "  like  passions  with  ourselves,"  subject  to  the  same 
temptations,  sharing  the  same  weaknesses,  in  need  of 
the  same  divine  help,  and  we  see  more  clearly  than 
before  how  near  God  is  to  each  of  us.  Though  he  is 
infinite  Goodness,  he  is  yet  willing  to  dwell  in  the  hearts 
of  imperfect  and  faulty  human  beings,  in  order  to  make 
them  like  himself.  He  is  eager  to  seek  even  a  broken 
and  stammering  expression  of  his  truth  in  the  utterances 
of  weak  and  erring  human  lips,  in  order  that  this  utter- 
ance may  grow  ever  clearer,  and  more  splendid,  as  the 
dim  Hght  of  early  dawn  gradually  grows  into  the  glory 
of  perfect  day. 


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